CNA : Singapore's investment property market staging a robust comeback

Singapore's investment property market staging a robust comeback
By Mok Fei Fei, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 14 January 2010 1506 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore's investment property market seems to be shrugging off the global financial crisis and is staging a robust comeback.

Property consultant C B Richard Ellis said Singapore's investment market performed much better than expected in 2009. It said total real estate investment sales came in at S$10.2 billion.

While the figure is 43 per cent less than the S$17.9 billion number set in 2008, it is still better than an initial estimate of S$1.35 billion at the start of 2009.

But in the fourth quarter last year, total investment sales amounted to S$3.86 billion, a drop of 7.2 per cent from the previous quarter.

CBRE said the dip was due to the residential market taking a breather from the intense activity witnessed in the earlier part of the year.

Separately, property consultant DTZ said Singapore accounted for the bulk of investments flowing into Southeast Asia in the fourth quarter last year. It said 73 per cent of Southeast Asia's total transactional value of US$2.4 billion was due to Singapore.

DTZ noted that Singapore did well as it is the gateway to the region.

Most of the investments over the period were channelled into the residential sector, followed by the retail sector.

In Singapore, the residential market made up 57 per cent of the transactional value in the fourth quarter of 2009.

DTZ added that the real investment market in the region was driven mainly by domestic firms and private investors.

- CNA/sc