Daily Briefing: Brick-and-mortar retailers still eye setting up in Singapore; District 4 sees pickup in transactions

And check out these four charts about Singapore's economy.

From CNBC via Yahoo!: Bricks-and-mortar retailers globally have taken a hit from e-commerce, but while Singapore's malls have felt the pinch, investors are still eyeing the city-state. But that doesn't mean investors are entirely gung-ho. Rushabh Desai, head of Asia-Pacific for Allianz Real Estate, said he's still evaluating potential investments into Singapore, expecting the commercial sectors would likely correct further over the next six to 12 months. "We are looking at retail that is non-discretionary. The larger portion of the retail is nondiscretionary, even if it's suburban retail," he said on the sidelines of the ULI Asia Pacific Summit in Singapore on Wednesday. "I think that is a strong subsector within retail versus the luxury outlets."

From Yahoo! Finance: Singapore’s District 4, which encompasses Sentosa Cove, Keppel Bay, Telok Blangah and Mount Faber, has seen a pickup in transactions in recent months, especially since April. In the week of May 23 to 30, The Interlace saw three units sold. The biggest was a 3,488 sq ft, four-bedroom penthouse on the 21st floor of one of the blocks that fetched $4.15 million ($1,190 psf). Another was a 1,044 sq ft, two-bedroom unit that fetched $1.38 million ($1,322 psf) in a resale. The previous owner paid $1.24 million ($1,188 psf) for it in April 2012. The third unit sold was an 807 sq ft, two-bedder that went for $1.12 million ($1,381 psf). It had originally been purchased for $1.21 million in August 2012 in a sub-sale.

From Shares Investment via Yahoo!: Economists and the Singapore government are optimistic about Singapore’s economy in 2017, forecasting a higher growth than last year’s two percent. Their primary cause for the positive outlook is global growth recovery. Consumer spending contracted for two consecutive quarters. It isn’t a good sign because it makes up a third of the Singapore economy. In fact, out of the many optimistic economists, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group’s (ANZ) economist, Ng Weiwen seems not too hopeful.