Institutional investors snapped up $2.93b worth of properties in Q3

Private acquisitions surged from just $496.20 million in Q2.

The country’s property investment sales market rebounded in the third quarter, thanks to an upsurge in acquisitions by institutional investors.

According to Colliers, institutional investors snapped up 10 investment properties worth a total of $2.93 billion in Q3, accounting for nearly 70% of the quarter’s total private investment sales. This figure that is about six times more than than the $496.20 million worth of properties concluded in Q2.

Keppel REIT’s $1.25b acquisition of one-third of the Marina Bay Financial Center led Q3’s private investment deals. This is also the largest investment transaction so far in 2014.

Another deal closed by an institutional investor was the acquisition of Anson House, a 13-storey office development on Anson Road in the CBD, which was acquired the European fund manager SEB for $172.00 million, translating to $2,252 per sq. ft over its net lettable area.

In addition to these deals, the 999-year leasehold Straits Trading Building was also sold by The Straits Trading Company Limited for $450.00 million or $2,830 per sq ft over its NLA to real estate developer Sun Venture.

“Despite witnessing the conclusion of the abovementioned three big-ticket deals, the total investment sales value of commercial properties slipped by 11.8% QoQ to $2.02 billion from the $2.29 billion raked in three months ago. This can partly be attributed to the absence of commercial sites available for sale in the public sector compared to the preceding quarter, when a commercial plot located on Woodlands Avenue 5/Woodlands Square was awarded for $634.00 million. Nonetheless, the sector still maintained its top spot on the investment sales chart for the July to September 2014 quarter with a 33.5% share,” noted Colliers.