Investment sales increased 86.3% quarter-on-quarter and 21.3% year-on-year in Q2 2021. 

Despite the enforcement of heightened COVID-19 restrictions, Singapore saw property investment sales revert to pre-COVID levels as it jumped 33% half-on-half and 171% year-on-year to $9.6 billion in the first half of 2021, revealed Colliers International in its latest report.

Total investment sales stood at $3.5 billion in H1 2020 and $8.9 billion in H1 2019.

For the second quarter of 2021, investment sales increased 86.3% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) and 21.3% year-on-year to $7 billion, “as investors took a longer-term view in their real estate investments”.

The report noted that commercial sales grew 24% q-o-q to $1.35 billion in Q2 2021, on the back of several major deals.

PGIM Real Estate, for instance, purchased freehold office building 108 Robinson Road for $143 million, while Maxwell House was sold through a second public tender.

“We remain optimistic in the office sector outlook on strong economic growth and benign CBD Grade A supply,” said Ling Wei Kong, Senior Director, Capital Markets, Capital Markets & Investment Services at Colliers.

The residential sector also performed well, soaring 96.4% q-o-q to $3.1 billion due to a revival in Government Land Sales (GLS) as well as improvements across all segments.

“With strong developer sales and a depleting pipeline, we can expect private land sales via en bloc and collective sales to recover this year,” said Steven Tan, Executive Director of Investment Services, Capital Markets & Investment Services at Colliers.

The report revealed that shophouse sales also rebounded 132% q-o-q to $310 million in Q2 2021, following a slump in Q1 2021.

“Shophouses are very versatile and provide a stable rental income with good capital appreciation potential. It is no surprise to see that H1 2021 shophouse sales volume grew 27.4% HOH and 272% YOY to $444 million,” said Tan.

Over at the industrial sector, investment sales surged 105% q-o-q to $2 billion in Q2 2021.

This comes as big-ticket industrial property sales remain buoyant, driven by Blackstone’s $1.06 billion privatisation of Soilbuild Business Space REIT and Ascendas REIT’s acquisition of the remaining 75% stake in Galaxis.

Looking ahead, Colliers expect positive long-term growth in data centres, hi-specs space and warehouses amid accelerated technology adoption and e-commerce growth.

Source: CommercialGuru, 22 July 2021