Commercial investment sales down 64.6% QoQ to $718.4m in Q3

This is due to the lack of major transactions during the period.

Total commercial investment sales volume contracted by 68.4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to $718.4m in the third quarter due to that lack of major transactions during the period, according to Savills.

This is following a 64.7% fall in the previous quarter. Year-on-year, investment sales declined by 26.1%.

In a report, Savills said investment sales increased by 26% QoQ to nearly $506.7m, wherein shophouses sales accounted for most but the growth was boosted by a block transaction as there was in the previous quarter.

READ MORE: Residential investment sales up for the 2nd consecutive quarter in Q3

The block transaction was Frasers Centrepoint's acquisition of a 10% stake in Waterway Point, increasing its interest in the mall from 40% to 50%.

On the other hand, office investment sales declined by 88.7% to $211.7m as there was only one block transaction during the quarter which was the sale of the OCN Building from Lian Beng Group to an undisclosed unrelated third party for $42m.

“Block transactions of office assets have been declining since the peak in Q1/2022, as investors, particularly private equity entities, have become increasingly cautious as rising interest rates is making the investment thesis difficult to justify,” it said.

Savills added that there were more strata office deals during the quarter, totalling eight at $169.7m, compared with three transactions in the second quarter.