Real estate investments up 1.1% q-o-q in 2Q2025 amid cautious activity: Knight Frank
Knight Frank observes that sales event will “remain prudent and judicious” going into the 2nd half of the year. Nevertheless, the 2H2025 GLS programme is expected to support sales. “The 10 new GLS sites presented in the 2H2025 Confirmed List are generally in good areas, with many having a potential of less than 600 new homes, well inside the favoured parameters for developers,” Tan says.
Hospitality property sales climbed 284% q-o-q to $585.8 million in 2Q2025. Quantity was sustained 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.
The industrial market also recorded two successful collective sales last quarter. Ching Shine Industrial Building brought $113.2 million in April, while MacPherson Industrial Complex brought $103.9 million in May.
Residential bargains slipped in 2Q2025, declining 52.3% q-o-q and 57% y-o-y to $1.8 billion. Most of residential sales came from the grant of two Government Land Sale (GLS) sites at Lentor Gardens and Shore Drive for $1 billion collectively. The quarter also viewed the first residential cumulative sale of the year: the 24-unit, property River Valley Apartments, which sold for $56 million in February.
Commercial transactions even totalled approximately $1.8 billion last quarter, ascending 17.8% q-o-q on the back of the South Beach transaction. However, the figure is 10.5% lower on a y-o-y basis.
Nevertheless, hiding interest in Singapore stays intact, states Galven Tan, CEO of Knight Frank Singapore. “Active capital remains eager on thematic fields, that will view more success with the narrowing of the bid-ask gap.”
On the other hand, industrial activity picked up in 2Q2025, with investment sales rising 560% q-o-q and 311% y-o-y to hit $1.6 billion. According to Knight Frank, several remarkable industrial offers closed 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.
Sales in 2Q2025 were reinforced by City Developments’ (CDL) sale of its 50.1% risk 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 deal bumped up private sales to $4.6 billion last quarter, making up the bulk of total investment sales at 79.2%.
Knight Frank has actually kept its financial investment sales forecast for the full year, running between $27 billion and $30 billion.
Realty investments in Singapore observed evaluated activity in 2Q2025, as industry took on volatility brought on by the United States’s news of sweeping tolls and the unraveling Israel-Iran conflict. Research by Knight Franks shows that $5.8 billion in investment sales were recorded last quarter. This stands for a q-o-q rise of only 1.1%, in addition to a 13.9% y-o-y decrease.
