Singapore investors plough record amounts into overseas real estate

Singapore has emerged as the largest Asian investor in the US commercial real estate market.  Singaporean investors have also very specific focus compared to other overseas investors.  Typically foreign investors tend to focus on trophy office, hotel and residential properties in central business districts but Singapore-based investors prefer to invest in industrial, suburban multi-family and more niche asset classes such as student housing and data centres.

Also, while major metropolitan areas attract the bulk of foreign investment, Singaporean investors typically buy real estate in secondary and tertiary US markets. Mapletree Investments, for example, bought an office building in central Minneapolis for US$258.5 million.

Read the details here on The New Paper.