Singapore Research Investment Q4 2021 (Knight Frank)

• In a year where a raft of measures were unleashed to contain the rate of infections as well as activity in the red-hot residential market, some S$7.3 billion of investment deals were recorded in Q4 2021, bringing the total for the whole year to S$25.8 billion. This reflected a growth of 5.3% from the total amount of S$24.5 billion last year.
• The investment volume in Q4 was primarily led by residential sales, amounting to about S$2.8 billion, as demand remained healthy for prime residential homes. This included the sale of a penthouse unit at Les Maisons Nassim for S$75 million (S$6,201 psf) in late October, as well as a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) within the Kilburn Estate GCB Area (GCBA) where it was reported that crypto billionaire Zhu Su was in the process of acquiring the detached house at S$48.8 million (S$1,532 psf on land).
• The collective sale market also started to gain momentum in Q4 2021, comprising five en bloc deals that were sealed from October to December. This included the sale of Peace Centre and Peace Mansion topping the list at S$650 million, acquired by a joint venture (JV) of CEL Development, Sing-Haiyi Crystal and Ultra Infinity. Watten Estate Condominium was sold for S$550.8 million to a UOL-SingLand JV. Despite the encouraging en bloc activity with homeowners of ageing projects growing increasingly hopeful, the imposition of cooling measures on 15 December 2021 has given pause to the market. In addition to the risks of escalating construction costs, developers also have to contend with pressure stemming from the increased Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty (ABSD) rate for entities from 25% to 35%.

This article was originally published in https://www.knightfrank.com/