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Commercial property transactions in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region increased by 17 percent to US$43 billion (S$57.53 billion) in Q4 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, according to a JLL report.
As a result, transaction volumes rose by 2 percent to US$131 billion (S$175.26 billion) for the entire year despite a sluggish market during the first half of 2014.
“The final quarter of 2014 was buoyed by strong results in Asia Pacific’s largest markets of Australia, Japan and China as well as record performances from South Korea and New Zealand,” said the property consultancy.
However, commercial property transactions in Singapore slumped by 64 percent year-on-year to US$1.2 billion (S$1.61 billion) in the last quarter. Consequently, transaction volumes for the whole year fell 30 percent to US$8.1 billion (S$10.84 billion) due to a lack of available products throughout 2014.
Moving forward, APAC’s strong year-end tally in 2014 is expected to bolster the level of commercial property transactions in 1H 2015, while the region’s total volume is projected to reach a new record high of US$140 billion (S$187.31 billion) for the entirety of 2015, based on JLL estimates.
“Private equity (PE) funds will almost certainly be active buyers and sellers in the region in 2015. Many of the 2006-2007 PE funds are reaching maturity and there are a number of funds actively in the market after raising in excess of US$10 billion (S$13.38 billion) last year,” said Megan Walters, JLL’s Research Head for APAC Capital Markets.
As for Singapore, its commercial property transactions are forecasted to rebound this year due to a strong deal pipeline, with several transactions reaching advanced stages of negotiations by Q4 2014.
Nikki De Guzman, Editor at CommercialGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg.
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