Property Investment In Singapore Hits S$7.3bil In Q4 2021
SINGAPORE – Real estate investment in the city-state reached S$7.3 billion during the last quarter of 2021, pushing the tally for the whole year to S$25.8 billion, which represent a 5.3 percent growth from the S$24.5 billion seen in 2020, according to Knight Frank’s latest quarterly investment report.
For the 4th quarter of last year, residential properties accounted for the lion’s share of property investments in Singapore, followed by commercial properties and mixed-use developments.
Knight Frank said Singapore’s commercial property market segment stayed relatively buoyant in 2021, as the upcoming stock of such space remains limited. Moreover, strata offices together with shophouses continued to retain their lustre, as such assets were regarded as safe investment havens.
A major commercial property transaction during the last quarter of 2021 is the S$1.3 billion sale of the One George Street office building by CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) and FWD Group to a joint venture (JV) comprising Nuveen Real Estate and JP Morgan Asset Management.
Moreover, Knight Frank believes that the cooling measures in Singapore’s residential market may lead to spill-over investor demand into the commercial segment, which is exempted from the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD).
“This could possibly translate into interest in the CBD Incentive Scheme sometime in 2022, where older commercial buildings are acquired in anticipation of a possible long-term global rebound from 2023 when air travel worldwide is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels,” opined the real estate consultancy.
Furthermore, Knight Frank added that more mixed-use development and commercial properties such as Lazada One and Orchard Hills have been put up for sale towards the end of 2021.
“As institutional investors search for core and core-plus assets to reinforce their portfolios, more commercial properties are expected to be acquired in the year ahead,” added the property consultancy.
