Chart of the Day: Check out the growth in Q1 commercial investment sales

It saw an eight-fold increase to $2.7b.

This chart from Colliers shows that commercial investment reached $2.7b in 1Q17.

The commercial sales value for the quarter represents an eightfold increase from last year's less than $1b sales. However, in the absence of huge Government Land Sales such as the Central Boulevard White site in 4Q16, commercial sales declined by 37.7%.

As there were no commercial sites available under the GLS programme, all commercial assets sold during the quarter were from the private sector.

Private commercial investment sales grew for two consecutive quarters and surged by 52.2% QoQ to $2.7b.

"Foreign investors remained keen in acquiring prime assets in Singapore, as evidenced by the different nationalities of buyers for PwC Building, the remaining office component of GSH Plaza, and the 70% stake in TripleOne Somerset," Colliers said.