Singapore real estate investment deals jump 67.4% in Q1 from a year ago: JLL

SOME S$4.99 billion worth of real estate investment deals were closed in the first three months of this year, a 67.4 per cent surge from the year-ago period.

This was, however, 40.9 per cent lower compared to the fourth quarter of last year, JLL estimates.

The private sector accounted for 90 per cent of the total sales value in the first quarter.

JLL Singapore head of research and consultancy Tay Huey Ying said: "The engine of growth for Singapore's private investment sales market in Q1 2017 was the office sector which took the lion's share at 47.5 per cent."

Some S$2.12 billion capital was pumped into the office sector in the first quarter, a 60.6 per cent jump from the preceding quarter and the highest first-quarter private-sector office sales value amassed since 2008.

The top two office deals closed during the quarter were entity sales. They were the sale of the holding company of PwC building to an indirect subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation for S$760.6 million, and the sale of Plaza Ventures Pte Ltd, the registered owner and developer of GSH Plaza, to Hong Kong-listed Fullshare Holdings for S$725.21 million.