Singapore property investment activity picks up in Q3

The top five commercial property deals amounted to $2.3b, or 52.4% of total investments.

Investment activity in Singapore’s property sector picked up Q3 following the easing of circuit breaker measures and on the back of foreign investor interest, says Knight Frank.

Overall investment sales amounted to $4.4b in total sales for the third quarter—a 55.1% decline compared with the $9.9m recorded in Q3 2019. Of these, more than half of the sales came from the commercial sector.

Significant commercial property deals include the 50% stake sale of Frasers Property’s Northpoint City to TCG Group for $550m, as well as the sale of Tuan Sing Holdings for $500m. All top five transactions for the quarter were from the commercial property sector and totaled $2.305b, or 52.4% of total investments across all sectors.

Whilst there remains substantial interest for commercial properties, especially in the Central Business District (CBD) region with the potential of existing buildings tapping into the CBD Incentive Scheme, there is limited saleable stock available on the market, noted Knight Frank.

Meanwhile, demand for residential property sector also remained resilient, particularly in the good class bungalow segment. A string of deals amounting to $128.3m in Q3 came close to the amount recorded in the first half of the year, at $166.4m.

The industrial sector also chalked up an increase in investment sales, registering a total of $406.6m. A warehouse at 7 Bulim Street sold for $129.6m and a business park development at 26A Ayer Rajah Crescent sold for $125m.

No transactions were completed in the public sector in Q3, with no sites sold under the Government Land Sales Programme.