Locally listed landlords face tough calls as Singapore office property market reprices

NO SINGAPORE office building has sold for S$500 million or more since last June. Institutional investors – the typical buyers of larger office buildings – are clearly not in the mood to acquire, with borrowing costs now exceeding office property yields.

Nevertheless, a few owners have quietly put their big-ticket office buildings on the market.

Expression-of-interest exercises closed recently for Mapletree Anson, which is owned by Singapore-listed real estate investment trust Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT), and for a half-stake in Qatar Investment Authority’s (QIA’s) Asia Square Tower 1 (T1).