Singaporean shophouses have been selling for S$5,000-S$6,000 per square foot (US$39,970-47,960 per square meter) and even as high as S$8,000 (US$63,940 per square meter) in some cases.
These prices are comparable to properties recently bought by Prada or Gucci’s parent company Kering on New York’s Fifth Avenue – the world’s most expensive retail street, CNA reported.
Demand for Singapore’s historic shophouses is booming, with luxury brands like Coach and Dior, Michelin-starred restaurants, and boutique hotels setting up shop in these buildings.
Sales of shophouses in
Singapore jumped 52.2% from the last quarter of 2023 to S$169.1 million in the first quarter of 2024, the Business Times reported, citing property consultancy Knight Frank’s report.
Their average price rose 27.1% to S$59,912 per square meter in the same period.
“Shophouses were one of the only asset classes whose value continued to rise even during the pandemic,” said Yap Hui Yee, a director at property consultancy Savills.
The colonial buildings have also been snapped up by family offices and local developers, and garnered interest from high-net-worth individuals.
Local developers like 8M Real
Estate and Clifton Partners have been buying commercial shophouses to transform them into boutique hotels, jazzy bars, and restaurants.
The buildings’ upper floors are popular as office spaces, offering a unique alternative to skyscraper offices.
Last month, Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates, was revealed to have joined the club of billionaires owning multimillion-dollar shophouses in Singapore, AFR reported.
His family office, the Dalio Family Office, bought two shophouses in the city-state for about S$25.5 million in 2021.
Another recent notable deal involved Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s wife Zhang Ying, who purchased three shophouses for S$45 million in February.
Source: vnexpress
