Real estate investments up 1.1% q-o-q in 2Q2025 amid cautious activity: Knight Frank
Sales in 2Q2025 were bolstered 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 agreement hit up private sales to $4.6 billion last quarter, comprising the bulk of overall investment sales at 79.2%.
Hospitality asset sales climbed 284% q-o-q to $585.8 million in 2Q2025. Volume was sustained by the revenue 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, while Momentus Serviced Residences Novena was acquired by Weave Living, BlackRock and Lian Beng Group for $100 million.
Knight Frank has maintained its financial investment sales projection for the full year, running in between $27 billion and $30 billion.
Commercial arrangements even yielded around $1.8 billion last quarter, ascending 17.8% q-o-q on the back of the South Beach proceeding. However, the number is 10.5% lower on a y-o-y basis.
Realty investments in Singapore saw measured activity in 2Q2025, as markets encountered volatility carried on by the US’s announcement of sweeping tariffs and the unfolding Israel-Iran dispute. Research Study by Knight Franks shows that $5.8 billion in investment sales were recorded last quarter. This represents a q-o-q increase of merely 1.1%, in addition to a 13.9% y-o-y decline.
Knight Frank views that sales activity will “remain prudent and judicious” going into the second fifty percent of the year. Nevertheless, the 2H2025 GLS programme is expected to support sales. “The ten new GLS sites introduced in the 2H2025 Confirmed List are generally in good areas, with many having a potential of less than 600 new homes, well throughout the favoured parameters for developers,” Tan says.
Nevertheless, underlying interest in Singapore stays intact, says Galven Tan, Chief Executive Officer of Knight Frank Singapore. “Active capital stays eager on thematic markets, which will view more success with the narrowing of the bid-ask gap.”
On the other hand, industrial activity got in 2Q2025, with financial investment sales surging 560% q-o-q and 311% y-o-y to hit $1.6 billion. According to Knight Frank, numerous remarkable industrial transactions 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.
The industrial market in addition recorded two successful collective sales last quarter. Ching Shine Industrial Building fetched $113.2 million in April, while MacPherson Industrial Complex cost $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. The majority of residential sales came from the award of two Government Land Sale (GLS) sites at Lentor Gardens and Shore Drive for $1 billion collectively. The quarter even saw the first residential collective sale of the year: the 24-unit, property River Valley Apartments, which sold for $56 million in February.
