Thought Leadership

‒ Asia Pacific governments and industry players continue to implement policies and partnerships to revive the travel and tourism industries. 

‒ While the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is restoring some confidence in travelling and contributing to the gradual easing of travel restrictions in some markets, the situation remains highly uncertain. 

‒ Following a hugely challenging 12 months after the onset of the pandemic, investor sentiment towards hotels has improved in recent months on the back of the vaccine rollout and expectations of economic recovery. 

‒ Regional hotel transaction volume reached US$2.3 billion in Q2 2021, representing a decline of 5.1% q-o-q. Japan, mainland China, Korea and Australia accounted for the bulk of sales volume during the quarter.

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

Investment 

Major office deals closer to fruition (27 Sep – BT)
According to The Business Times, Hong Kong-based private equity property fund management company Gaw Capital Partners is doing diligence for Twenty Anson at around $2,900 psf on the existing NLA of about 206,200 sq ft; based on this, the deal will be nearly S$600 million. It was reported that JP Morgan has teamed up with Nuveen Real Estate to do exclusive due diligence on One George Street. Assuming the price is S$2,900 psf, the absolute quantum would amount to S$1.29 billion. Meanwhile, a transaction is also said to be brewing for ABI Plaza at 11 Keppel Road. 

Two sites at one-north’s Slim Barracks Rise beat forecasts with 10 bids each (29 Sep – BT, ZB, 30 Sep – ST)
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) closed the tender for two residential with commercial at first storey land sites at Slim Barracks Rise on September 28. Land parcel A, which spans 85,648 sq ft fetched a top bid of S$320.1 million or about S$1245.7 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). The top bid came from EL Development. Meanwhile, the 63,901-sq ft land parcel B, fetched a top bid of S$162.4 million or S$1,210.1 psf ppr from Gao Xiuhua.

Marina View white site awarded to IOI Properties for S$1,508b (30 Sep – ST)
The site at Marina View is awarded to its sole bidder, a unit of IOI Properties Group, for S$1.508 billion. That works out to a land rate of $1,379 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr). The white site can yield 905 private homes, 21,528 sq ft in gross floor area of commercial space and 540 hotel rooms.

URA launches residential sites at Lentor Hills Road, Jalan Tembusu for tender (1 Oct – BT, ST)
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has released for sale three residential sites at Lentor Hills Road (Parcels A & B) and Jalan Tembusu under the 2H/2021 government land sales (GLS) programme. The sites at Lentor Hills Road (Parcel A) and Jalan Tembusu are launched for sale under the confirmed list, while the site at Lentor Hills Road (Parcel B) is available for application under the reserve list.The sites at Lentor Hills Road (Parcel A) and Jalan Tembusu can potentially yield 595 and 640 units respectively, while the site at Lentor Hills Road (Parcel B) can yield 265 units.

Retail

Turf City tenants granted final 18-month extension until end-2023 (1 Oct – ST)
A final 18-month extension has been granted to tenants at Turf City until December 31, 2023, said the authorities on September 30. According to the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and URA, development plans for the Turf City site are being studied, with land preparation works scheduled to start after December 31, 2023.

The site currently has 15 tenancies, including retail, food and beverage, and sports and recreation businesses, as well as childcare centres and motor vehicle showrooms. The original tenancies were for periods up till December 31 last year.

Industrial

WarnerMedia opens regional hub in Singapore (25 Sep – ST)
Major media company WarnerMedia has opened a regional hub in Singapore and will be launching its premium HBO Max platform in Asia. The new 40,000-sq ft office takes up two floors at Solaris.

Savills in the Press

URA launches residential sites at Lentor Hills Road, Jalan Tembusu for tender (1 Oct – ZB)
Zaobao featured an article on the three residential sites at Lentor Hills Road and Jalan Tembusu released under the 2H/2021 GLS programme.

Savills Singapore executive director Alan Cheong commented that the site at Lentor Hills Road (Parcel A) is likely to attract around eight bids, while the larger site at Jalan Tembusu could receive six bids. If Lentor Hills Road (Parcel B) is triggered, he expects to see around 15 bids with more smaller developers bidding for the site.

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

The latest Asia-Pacific Property Value Movement Report Autumn 2021 is out now! This report aims to provide asset owners and investors the latest perspectives and insights on the performance of property asset values across Asia Pacific.

Some Key Takeaways from the report:

• Among the 22 markets in Asia-Pacific, 69% of sectors expect values to rise / remain stable in H2 2021.
• The high-tiered Industrial market expected an increase in H2 2021.
• Australia and New Zealand are of the highest proportion of sectors with increasing or stable values in H1 2021.

With capital remained abundant while financing costs across most of the region maintained at or near record lows, we expect asset values to continue holding up, which could firm further as the gathering pace of vaccinations shore up occupier markets in the region.

We hope you find the report of interest and as always, we welcome any enquiries you may have.

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

OFFICE RENTS BOTTOM OUT IN Q3 2021

Rents and occupancy

• Prime Grade office rents in the Raffles Place / Marina Bay precinct grew for the first time since Q4 2019, with rents rising by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to S$9.98 per square foot per month (psf pm). Office rents turned a corner and bottomed out in Q3 2021 as occupancy rates for prime offices in the precinct remained relatively stable, falling marginally by 0.7 percentage points (pp) q-o-q to 93.6%, a slight reversal from the 0.1 pp growth recorded in Q2 2021.
• In tandem with the firm signs of improvement in the office rental market, the volume of pre-termination space available fell 78.9% q-o-q in Q3 2021, declining empathically from the 360,000-sf estimate in Q2 2021 to some 76,000 sf in Q3 2021. The decrease in shadow space was expected as the flight-to-quality continued with corporates taking advantage of the rare opportunity to snap up premium spaces in prime buildings that were normally fully occupied, before rents start to increase significantly.

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

The Asia Pacific logistics sector has performed resiliently since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic on the back of accelerating e-commerce penetration, the development of omnichannel retail and the evolution of supply chain strategies for sourcing and inventory locations.

With logistics growth momentum showing no signs of slowing, CBRE recently conducted its first ever Asia Pacific Logistics Occupier Survey to identify the trends set to impact the sector in the coming years and help formulate strategies for occupiers and investors pursuing long-term sustainable growth.

The report identifies occupier optimism towards prospects for business growth; outlines the appropriate strategies for occupiers seeking to optimise their portfolios and operations; and profiles the next generation of logistics facilities. It also analyses the implications and opportunities for occupiers and investors seeking to increase their exposure to Asia Pacific logistics real estate.

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

Despite rapid growth in inbound demand in recent years driven by a sharp increase in overseas visitors, Japan’s retail and hotel markets remain overwhelmingly driven by domestic demand.

Therefore, while a recovery in inbound tourism is still some time away, Japan can be said to have rapid recovery potential, should domestic demand return.

CBRE believes the return of domestic demand is imminent, with pent-up demand steadily accumulating due to restrained consumption and various benefits and incentives provided by the government. 

This demand is likely to materialise in the form of consumption for higher-end goods and services, trends that auger well for Japan’s retail and hotel sectors, especially the higher-end segments.

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

H 1 2021 transaction volumes were close to the six monthly average observed over the past five years

Office and industrial sales lead the New Zealand market The top three largest sales above 100 million were office assets

Vacant land/development sites show a lift in sales volumes

Singapore based investors were the most active of the offshore groups, with a smaller proportion of investment by Malaysian and Australian buyers

Investment activity is dominated by private buyers 52 followed by institutions 34 and syndicates 7 However, privates are net sellers, while institutions and syndicates are net buyers

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

• Compared with an average of over 3,500 units launched over the last three quarters, developers slowed down and launched a total of 2,356 private residential units in Q2/2021.
• With fewer new launches, the total new sales volume fell 15.1% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to 2,966 units in Q2/2021.
• The sales momentum in the secondary market continued to pick up in Q2, with total resale volume rising by 19.0% QoQ to a new record high of 5,483 units.
• The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) property price index of residential properties rose by 0.8% QoQ in Q2, slowing down from the 3.3% QoQ increase in Q1. This was largely because prices of landed homes ended their short-lived growth with a 0.3% QoQ decline, while non-landed homes saw a slower increase of 1.1% QoQ in Q2.
• The average prices of Savills’ basket of high-end non-landed private residential projects also saw a moderated increase of 0.4% QoQ to S$2,434 per sq ft in Q2.
• Unless there is serious contagion arising from China Evergrande, prices are expected to rise by 5.5% year-on-year (YoY) in 2021 with another 5% in 2022.

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

As residential prices increase across the world, so too do transaction volumes. Commercial residential transactions for multifamily increased to the largest sector by investment volumes, at 28% of all transactions, overtaking offices for the first time in the first half of 2021. End-user residential also returned to pre-pandemic transaction levels nearly as soon as property markets reopened. The strength of residential property markets shows that home isn’t just where the heart is. 

Global real estate investment underwent a major shift in the first half of 2021 as the multifamily residential sector overtook offices to become the largest sector globally for the first time since records began in 2007, when considering deals over $2.5 million. Over the first six months of 2021, $136 billion was invested in residential, 35% higher than the same period in 2020 and 4.1% higher than office transaction volumes. Growth was driven by the global interest in the strong fundamentals for the residential sector. Many locations remain severely undersupplied for appropriate housing, particularly to meet the demand from younger people moving to urban centres.

In the end-user residential market, there were converging factors driving increased transaction volumes in many locations. From the race for space to the shift to working from home, many buyers globally decided that their current homes weren’t working for them. As soon as they were able, buyers made the choice to move to new properties, assisted by record low interest rates and government support for property markets. Across the 15 cities analysed for this article, 80% of the locations have seen transaction volumes above 2019 figures. 

A significant number of properties that transacted were purchased by mortgaged homeowners as price growth squeezed out first-time buyers while boosting the buying power of current owners. Roughly 45% of UK new buyers put their plans to buy on hold in 2020, as Covid-19 landed a double blow of rising house prices and constrained personal finances. The number of first home buyers taking out new home loans in Australia dropped to its lowest level in eight months in June 2021 to 13,869, though the number of home loans for all owner-occupiers fell in June as well, as Australia battles a new wave of Covid-19. 

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

Will electric vehicles change the automotive world?

Electric vehicles (EVs) are steadily weaving their way into the fabric of our transportation. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), over 10 million electric cars can now be found on the roads of the world; with over 125 million expected by 2030. Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of batteries has plummeted to close to a tenth of their original price and could halve again by 2030, only accelerating the adoption of the EV.

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