Real estate investments up 1.1% q-o-q in 2Q2025 amid cautious activity: Knight Frank
Realty investments in Singapore saw evaluated activity in 2Q2025, as markets encountered volatility taken on by the United States’s announcement of sweeping charges and the unraveling Israel-Iran problem. Research Study by Knight Franks shows that $5.8 billion in investment sales were recorded last quarter. This represents a q-o-q rise of merely 1.1%, along with a 13.9% y-o-y decline.
Hospitality investment sales climbed 284% q-o-q to $585.8 million in 2Q2025. Quantity was supported by the sale of Citadines Raffles Place by CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Development and Mitsubishi Estate Asia for $280 million. In addition, boutique hotel 21 Carpenter was sold by 8M Real Estate for $100 million, whilst Momentus Serviced Residences Novena was bought by Weave Living, BlackRock and Lian Beng Group for $100 million.
Sales in 2Q2025 were reinforced by City Developments’ (CDL) sale of its 50.1% stake in office development South Beach at a $1.4 billion valuation. The stake was marketed to IOI Properties Group, CDL’s joint venture partner for South Beach. The arrangement hit up private sales to $4.6 billion last quarter, making up the bulk of overall investment sales at 79.2%.
Residential offers fell in 2Q2025, declining 52.3% q-o-q and 57% y-o-y to $1.8 billion. Most of residential sales originated from the grant of 2 Government Land Sale (GLS) locations at Lentor Gardens and Shore Drive for $1 billion collectively. The quarter also saw the first residential cumulative sale of the year: the 24-unit, freehold River Valley Apartments, which sold for $56 million in February.
In contrast, industrial activity grabbed in 2Q2025, with investment sales surging 560% q-o-q and 311% y-o-y to hit $1.6 billion. According to Knight Frank, several noteworthy industrial offers closed up in May, including the sale of 9 Tai Seng Drive for $455.2 million, the sale of The Strategy business park in Jurong for $280 million, and the sale of 5 Science Park Drive for $245 million.
Knight Frank observes that sales activity will “remain prudent and judicious” going into the second fifty percent of the year. However, the 2H2025 GLS programme is expected to sustain sales. “The 10 brand-new GLS sites introduced in the 2H2025 Confirmed List are generally in good places, with most having a capacity of less than 600 new homes, well throughout the favoured parameters for developers,” Tan says.
Knight Frank has maintained its financial investment sales projection for the full year, ranging between $27 billion and $30 billion.
Nevertheless, underlying interest in Singapore is still intact, says Galven Tan, Chief Executive Officer of Knight Frank Singapore. “Active capital stays keen on thematic markets, which are going to view more success with the narrowing of the bid-ask void.”
Commercial arrangements even yielded approximately $1.8 billion last quarter, soaring 17.8% q-o-q on the back of the South Beach transaction. Nevertheless, the figure is 10.5% lower on a y-o-y basis.
The industrial market also recorded two successful collective sales last quarter. Ching Shine Industrial Building fetched $113.2 million in April, while MacPherson Industrial Complex brought $103.9 million in May.
