Preliminary investment sales volume for the first quarter of 2019 eased by 31.4 percent quarter-on-quarter to $3.59 billion, revealed CBRE.

The residential sector continued to account for the majority of investment sales volume at 30.4 percent, while the hotel sector accounted for 25.7 percent of total investment sales.

Retail investment volume, on the other hand, surged 129.4 percent quarter-on-quarter to $640.73 million, “on the back of two retail mall transactions – Liang Court was sold for $400 million and Rivervale Mall was sold for $230 million”, said the firm.

CBRE capital markets managing director Jeremy Lake noted that while no major office building sales were registered, a number of office strata sales were posted during the period under review including six floors in Suntec City for $160 million.

“The office market continues to perform well and investors remain keen to acquire office assets in anticipation of further rental growth and capital appreciation,” he said.

“If interest rates are on pause for the rest of the year, investors could be energised further to enter the office investment market. It is likely that we will see a few notable office deals in Q2 which will shore up overall investment volume for 2019.”

Source: 22 March 2019, CommercialGuru