Industrial property transactions crashed 59.2% in 1Q13

Buyers are getting more cautious.

According to Colliers International, in the primary market, buyers appeared to be exercising greater prudence and taking longer to evaluate their purchase decisions. At the same time, it was observed that some developers released their units in smaller batches in order to gauge the level of demand. 

Several developers also offered discounts or a stamp duty subsidy for a select number of units in their developments to move sales.

Here's more from Colliers:

Reflecting the decline in sales volume, caveat records (captured by the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Real Estate Information System as of 2 April 2013) showed the total number of transactions in both the primary and secondary markets fell by 59.2% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to around 430 transactions in 1Q 2013.

This is a sharp contrast to the 1,000 to 1,100 transactions seen in the preceding three quarters.

As a result of the fall in sales activity, prices of conventional industrial space exhibited greater stability in 1Q 2013. Colliers International’s research showed that the average capital values of prime freehold ground- and upper-floor factory premises stayed unchanged at 4Q 2012’s level of $713 per sq ft and $648 per sq ft, respectively, after rising consecutively for the past 11 quarters.