Chart of the Day: Commercial property sales hit $2.2b in Q3

One notable transaction was the $908m sale of OUE Downtown's office component.

This chart from Colliers International shows that commercial investment sales in the Lion City jumped 47.4% QoQ to $2.2b mainly backed by a few big-ticket transactions. The firm noted that institutional investors and REITs have been active sellers and buyers, and were the key players for all major commercial deals in Q3.

However, commercial property sales crashed 23.4% YoY compared to Q3 2017 as it saw the sale of Asia Square Tower 2 for $2.1b, which was the largest office deal in Singapore in 2017.

“We expect more major deals to close in Q4 2018 and 2019,” Colliers International said.”In the longer term, commercial properties should continue to remain attractive to investors, supported by steady rental recovery in the leasing office market in the next three years and demand for steady income yields in a safe haven.”

Amongst the major transactions for the quarter include the office component of OUE Downtown sold to OUR Commercial REIT for $908m, Westgate (70% stake, retail component) sold to CapitaLand Mall Trust for $789.6m and 55 Market Street sold to AEW for $216.8m.