Higher strata office and retail transacted values in 1H2025: Knight Frank
Notable strata retail purchases in 1H2025 consist of the sale of units at Orchard Towers for $54.5 million, or $2,825 psf, in January. On average, strata retail units negotiated at $3,004 psf in 1H2025, measured up to $2,999 psf in 2H2025.
Among strata office buildings in the Downtown Core, Manhattan House on Chin Swee Road emerged, logging 27 purchases in 1H2025. “A possible reason for the increased passion could be that investors were buying to make use of a possibility for a prospective en bloc sale to materialise,” the report adds.
However, the firm marks that opportunities stay in both the strata workplace and strata retail markets. “Palatable and fairly economical cost quanta in these niche segments provide timely and off-beat possibilities that can be attractive for cautious investors and end-users,” says Mary Sai, executive supervisor for capital markets at Knight Frank Singapore.
Looking ahead, the expectation for the strata business market continues to be unconfirmed, amidst a backdrop of escalating geopolitical pressures, continuous protectionist actions by the US and getting worse international conditions. Furthermore, the strata retail market continues to be born down by increasing operating costs and moving buyer behaviour, prompting stores to embrace slow-moving development plans, claims Knight Frank.
In the strata office market, a full of 189 deals were documented in 1H2025, more than the 170 offers registered in 2H2024. Nonetheless, the common unit cost of strata office properties marketed slid, falling from $2,878 psf in 2H2024 to $2,787 psf in 1H2025.
In the strata retail market, there was an uptick in sales value in 1H2025, in spite of a minimal dip in quantity. There were 113 strata retail deals in the very first fifty percent of the year, contrasted to 116 in 2H2024. “Similar to strata workplace units, particular strata retail deals might not have been captured as caveats were not lodged,” Knight Frank adds.
Nevertheless, strata retail sales value completed $292.3 million in 1H2025, 35.5% more than the $215.8 million in 2H2024. The rise was underpinned by a somewhat much higher number of bigger deals, says Knight Frank. While a lot of purchases in 2H2024 were smaller sized offers of under $4 million, there were ten in 1H2025 that were above $5 million, consisting of 4 transacted at above $15 million.
According to Knight Frank, the Downtown Core and the Rochor planning areas saw the highest possible number of deals. Caveats lodged show 44 units in the Downtown Core shifting hands for $471.1 million, though the firm adds that the number of real deals might be higher, as some purchasers decided on not to lodge caveats.
Because of this, total strata workplace sales amount was marginally higher than the 2nd fifty percent of last year, inching up just 0.6% to $699.6 million in 1H2025.
The most significant strata office deal by outright value in 1H2025 was the revenue of several units at 20 Collyer Quay for $91.8 million in March, followed by the sale of three units at Tokio Marine Centre in January for $67.5 million.
Strata commercial contracts observed steady energy in 1H2025, according to a research report by Knight Frank Singapore. Caveats lodged show that both the strata office and strata retail industry recorded higher negotiated valuations in the first half of the year contrasted to the next half of last year.
