Singapore grabs 10th spot in world's top investment markets

All thanks to the Eurozone crisis.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest International Investment Atlas released today, eight of the top 20 investment markets are now in Asia. Singapore holds 5th place on the Asia list and is in 10th position globally. On a city basis the Asia Pacific region produced five cities in the top 20.

Singapore rated 3rd in Asia behind Tokyo and Hong Kong and 13th globally ahead of the other Asian gateway markets of Shanghai , Beijing , Seoul , Sydney and Melbourne.

Interestingly there were no Chinese cities appearing in the Top 20 list - most of China’s trading volume last year came from land. EMEA led the world for cross border investment activity with an increase from 17% to 39% in cross border investment activity.

A significant chunk of this activity has been provided by the Malaysian government linked pension fund acquisitions in London.

Due to concerns of a Eurozone meltdown, and global uncertainty dissipating - investments in Singapore picked up during the second half of 2012, notably with higher investments in Office properties as sentiment improved.

Additionally, QE3 (Quantitative Easing) in the USA kick-started in September 2012 - thus aiding liquidity. As a result, China and the US reported better economic numbers that pointed to a recovery – all of which helped to spur a revival in activity at the end of Q3 through the end of the year.

On the flip side, values of total Singapore development sites were slightly lower in 2012, as compared to 2011. 2011 saw the sale of some good sites – such as Bishan St 14. Government Land Sale sites were also susceptible to cooling measures implemented by the government, which led to more measured bids from developers.

Deals for collective sites were relatively healthy despite the number of measures aimed at this sector, and did not collapse following the measures at the end of 2011. Prices have also remained at high levels.

Activity recovered in 2012 as developers remained relatively confident about the sector. However, the full effect of cooling measures is still being assessed.

The most dominant investors in the Singapore market this year were real estate companies, followed by REITs – the latter predominantly bought industrial properties. Equity funds were net sellers in the Singapore market. The market remains dominated by local investors.