Real estate investment sales crashed 38.2% to $3.5b in Q4

This is the lowest quarter since 4Q09.

The real estate investment market crashed 38.2% to $3.5b quarter-on-quarter in Q4, following three consecutive quarters of improved investment sales.

Data from Savills showed that this is the lowest quarter on record since the fourth quarter of 2009. The full-year investment sales figure is pegged at $17.8b, 40.3% lower than the $29.7b recorded in 2013.

The decline for Q4 was attributed almost equally to both the private and public sectors. Private sector investment slipped 34.9% QoQ while public sector investment slumped 47.1% compared to the previous quarter.

“However, except for the residential and industrial sectors, weaker performance was seen across all property segments compared with the previous quarter. While opportunistic investors emerged in these two segments, the general trend is that the macro-economic risk of rising interest rates, as well as the recent plunge in oil prices, could have weakened market sentiment in the reviewed quarter,” Savills stated.