A raft of poor economic data alongside travel restrictions meant a muted end to the year and a much more pragmatic attitude from landlords.  

• The rate of decline in retail sales slowed further in October during the fourth wave of COVID-19.
• F&B continues to take up space as landlords are keen to sign up crowd-pulling concepts to support footfall in major malls. Beyond F&B, market activity remains very low.
• Shopping centre landlords are now reconciled to market conditions and becoming more flexible in both asking rents and lease terms.
• Amidst a sluggish leasing market, both prime street shop rents and base rents of major shopping centres fell by -5.9% QoQ in Q4/2020. 
• Savills forecast that rents will continue to drop by 2% to 5% in 2021, before a rebound of 5% to 10% in 2022.