THE country’s retail sector sustained its robust performance in the third quarter of 2011 as major mall developers continued to expand to major cities and provinces, the Colliers International Philippines said.

Projects by Ayala Malls, SM Prime and Robinsons continued to emerge in major cities and provinces like General Santos, Davao, Cebu, Bacolod, Palawan, Cavite and Pampanga, Colliers noted.

SM City Suzhou, the fourth SM mall in China, is also expected for completion by the end of 2011, the real estate consultancy firm added.

Colliers earlier said the limited space within the major districts caused the expansion of retail developers to other areas in the country.

Metro Manila, meanwhile, will also enjoy the same robustness in the retail sector with various upcoming projects from major mall developers, according to Colliers.

SM reportedly has upcoming malls in Sucat and Novaliches as well the expansion of SM Megamall in Ortigas.

Ayala recently broke ground for its latest commercial development called Fairview Terraces in Quezon City, while projects of Megaworld such as The Venice Phase 2 and the Uptown Mall are expected to provide more retail space in Fort Bonifacio, Colliers said.

In its third-quarter market report, Colliers noted that occupancy rates in both super-regional and regional malls across Metro Manila remained high at 99 percent while vacancy rates dipped only by 0.25 percent.

‘Vacancy rates in super-regional malls increased by 0.41 percent with an average vacant space of around 1,500 sq m,’ the report said.

‘Regional malls were generally stable, decreasing by just 0.05 percent from the former 1.35 percent. This renders an average vacant space of 900 sq.m.,’ it added.

Colliers said that an additional supply of more than 170,000 sq.m. is expected in the retail market in the next six months with the completion of Lucky China Town Mall in Manila, BHS East Block in Fort Bonifacio and Two Shopping Center in Pasay.

‘Apart from the upcoming large-scale mall developments, district to neighborhood retail centers are also expected to increase in the long term,’ Colliers said.

‘Partnerships between property and retail investors are expected to strengthen in the next few years as the demand for small- to medium-scale retail spaces makes a key component across the growing business process sector and residential market,’ the report added.