Savills IM records US$557.2m of transactions in Singapore

SAVILLS Investment Manager recorded US$557.2 million of transactions in Singapore last year, accounting for over 60 per cent of the total transacted amount in the Asia-Pacific.

The firm had executed two property transactions in Singapore, including the sale of an office building located at 77 Robinson Road in the Central Business District for approximately US$371.4 million and the disposal of Savills IM's 60 per cent stake in Chinatown Point shopping centre in the Chinatown district for US$185.9 million.

Globally, Savills IM transacted US$5.3 billion in 2016, beating its previous record of US$3.6 billion set in 2015. Individual and portfolio transactions numbered 114 across 18 countries.

Savills IM currently has US$1.3 billion available to invest in new assets in Europe and the Asia-Pacific in 2017.

Kiran Patel, chief investment officer at Savills IM, commented: "The Asia-Pacific real estate markets experienced difficult conditions in 2016, when supply exceeded occupier demand. The exception to this is Japan, which has had favourable fundamentals supported by strong monetary, fiscal and economic characteristics."

He added that some cities in the Asia-Pacific are set to show "some interesting buying opportunities" and that these two years "could be an excellent period to build a pan-Asian real estate portfolio".