Property investment sales plummet

Singapore saw property investment sales plunge 52.9 percent to $2.86 billion in Q3 2015 from $6.07 billion during the previous quarter, reported Singapore Business Review citing a Savills report.

The report noted that this is the lowest transaction volume recorded since Q3 2009.

The quiet quarter is attributed to weak global economic conditions and unexpected negative developments pertaining to the Chinese currency which then translated to increased volatility in the global financial markets, said Savills.

Aside from macro headwinds, the decline was also attributed to cooling measures and the reduced availability of Government Land Sales (GLS) sites.

Transaction value in the private sector fell 28.7 percent quarter-on-quarter to about $2.37 billion from 36 transactions. Specifically, private property investment deals accounted for 82.9 percent of total transactions recorded during the quarter.

As for the public sector, only two industrial and two residential sites were awarded under the GLS Programme with a combined value of $487.8 million, or 17.1 percent of the total investment value in Q3.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

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