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After seeing three straight quarters of rising activity, property investment sales in Singapore plunged by 38.2 percent to S$3.5 billion in Q4 2014 from S$5.6 billion in the previous quarter, according to a Savills report.
The consultancy pointed out that this is the lowest figure since Q4 2009, bringing the full-year figure to S$17.8 billion, down 40.3 percent from S$29.7 billion in 2013.
In Q4 2014, the private sector accounted for 76.8 percent of the investment sales or S$2.7 billion, representing a 34.9 percent drop from the preceding quarter.
Transactions declined across all of its segments except for residential and industrial where investment sales in the private industrial sector soared by 5.5 times to S$1.1 billion on a quarterly basis.
Meanwhile, Savills noted that the commercial segment, which registered a stellar S$1.98 billion in sales in the previous quarter, dropped dramatically to S$317.7 million in Q4 2014.
Major commercial deals during the quarter include the sale of Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and its adjacent extension to OUE Hospitality Trust for S$495 million, and disposal of the S25 industrial property to Keppel Data Centre (DC) REIT for S$262.8 million.
As for the public sector, it made up 23.2 percent of all investment sales during the quarter or S$801.6 million, translating to a 47.1 percent fall from Q3 2014. Specifically, three residential and six industrial sites were awarded under the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme in the said period.
Moving forward, property investment sales in the traditional commercial and hospitality sectors could slow down, as buyers may turn cautious due to 2 conflicting developments: a global deflation and a looming interest rate hike.
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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