SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - A strata office unit at Suntec City Tower 1 has been sold for $11.5 million, according to a press release by Savills Singapore, who brokered the deal. “This is the fourth office strata sale at Suntec City that Jeremy Lake and Sophia Lim from the Savills Investment Sales and Capital Markets team have closed since 2021, making a total tally of $288 million over eight full floors sold,” the firm states.

The largest transaction brokered by Savills at Suntec City was the sale of six floors in Tower 1 and Tower 2 for $197 million in June 2021. Last August, Savills also brokered the sale of an entire floor in Tower 2 for $41.148 million ($3,350 psf), the highest psf-price recorded for strata offices at Suntec City at the time.

Sophia Lim, Savills’ director for investment sales and capital markets, says Suntec City offices remain sought after by investors, end-users and family offices, particularly those from Hong Kong, China and India. “ We have observed strong renewed interest from this group of buyers following the successful completion of the asset enhancement works for Suntec City last year,” she adds.

Jeremy Lake, managing director, investment sales and capital markets, at Savills, observes that while Singapore’s real estate investment market has been “in the doldrums” for over a year amid high interest rates which have deterred institutional buyers, private high-net-worth buyers have been actively investing, especially in shophouses and strata offices.

“These buyers are less sensitive to higher interest rates and are playing the long game, knowing Singapore property prices will rise over time despite some near-term headwinds,” Lake continues.

Based on Savills’ data, real estate investment sales plunged 50.5% q-o-q in 2Q2023 to $3.29 billion, with a 77.9% q-o-q drop in commercial sales to $940.7 million.