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ALL has turned quiet on the housing front, but some other segments of the property market appear to have escaped that fate.
Still going strong in particular are sales of single office units in larger commercial buildings. Known as strata-titled offices, these properties recorded active demand in the fourth quarter last year, even as home sales were taking a breather.
A healthy 13 transactions of strata offices occurred between October and December, up from only five in the previous quarter, according to data from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).
Most of the properties were in the city area - Suntec City, Tong Building in Orchard Road, Springleaf Tower in Anson Road - and changed hands at well above $2,000 per sq ft (psf), CBRE said.
Altogether, $750.8 million worth of strata offices were sold in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for last year to $1.7 billion - more than four times the figure for 2006.
Prices also rose solidly throughout the year. At Suntec City Tower 1, a favourite strata-office location, unit prices climbed about 50 per cent from just above $1,500 psf in January to almost $2,400 psf in December - the highest level in two years.
The steady take-up of single units is due largely to the wider boom in Singapore's office market. A shortage of offices, even as expanding businesses push up demand for space, has boosted prices and rents across the board, drawing much interest from investors, said CBRE's executive director of investment properties, Mr Jeremy Lake.
Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.
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