Singapore property investment sales may hit 3-year high in 2016: analyst

Nine-month sales already amounted to $15.41b.

Singapore's total property investment sales for 2016 likely climbed to its highest level in three years after 3Q results soared by 16% to reach $4.61b, according to preliminary estimates by JLL Research.

The uplift in investor sentiment witnessed in the second quarter that translated into the conclusion of several headline deals including the S$3.4b Asia Square Tower 1 and the S$638 million collective sale of Shunfu Ville was sustained into the third quarter,” said Greg Hyland, Head of Capital Markets at JLL Singapore.

Total sales for the first nine months of 2016 reached S$15.41b, up 6.3% from the same period a year ago.

“Sales tally aside, the triggering of the Central Boulevard Government Land Sales (GLS) White site, the sheer number of bids received, as well as the neck-to-neck
bids submitted for recent GLS residential sites further attests to the upbeat investor sentiment,” said Tay Huey Ying, Head of Research for JLL Singapore.

“The Anchorvale Lane Executive Condominium GLS site received 16 bids while the Fernvale Road non-landed GLS site (both in northeast Singapore) received 14 bids when their tenders closed in August and September, respectively. In what is likely the most intense competition ever seen for a GLS site, the top three bids for the Fernvale Road land parcel were less than 0.1% apart,” she added.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, however, total investment sales value in the third quarter was 41.2% lower than volume registered in preceding three months. Second quarter sales received a huge lift from the S$3.4b sale of Asia Square Tower 1. Excluding this deal, third-quarter sales volume was just 3.8% higher than the second quarter.

The largest deal sealed in the third quarter was the S$1.78b acquisition of the office and business park components of Mapletree Business City (Phase 1) by Mapletree Commercial Trust. This is also the second largest property deal in Singapore this year after Asia Square Tower 1.

“This quarter-on-quarter fall in sales is expected as sizeable assets such as that of Asia Square Tower are limited in Singapore. The few that are available are tightly
held by their owners,” said Hyland.