Increase in larger deals in the investment sales market: DTZ Research

Property consultant DTZ Research said Singapore’s investment sales market is seeing an increase in larger deals sealed.

For the second quarter this year, there were 15 deals worth over S$100 million totalling some S$3.5 billion.

Such deals make up nearly three-quarters of the total investment value of S$4.71 billion in the second quarter.

The figure is much higher than the nine transactions of over S$100 million each that made up just 55.5 per cent of transactions in the first quarter this year.

DTZ said the bulk of investments were noticeably geared towards government sale of sites.

11 of the 15 deals above S$100 million were for sites released under the Government Land Sales programme.

The highest was for a white site in Jurong Gateway which was sold for S$748.9 million.

Overall investment sales for the second quarter posted a 64.1 per cent increase on-quarter to S$4.71 billion.

Of that amount, S$2.75 billion or 58.3 per cent were from residential transactions.

Investments in industrial properties, meanwhile, shrank over the same period, making up just 9.3 per cent or S$438.5 million of total transactions.

This was in contrast to the first quarter when transactions in industrial properties stole the limelight.

DTZ said the absence of any large scale acquisitions by Real Estate Investment Trusts over the period was the major factor contributing to a 59.4 per cent on-quarter drop in transacted values in the sector.

Also down were transactions in office properties as investment value fell 39.5 per cent from the preceding quarter to S$266.1 million.

Source: Channel News Asia, 5 Jul 2010