The Singapore shophouse market didn’t just slow down in 2025 — it quietly collapsed to levels not seen in a generation, with just 88 deals closing across the full year at a combined value of S$623.2 million, the weakest annual sales figure since 2014.
The second half of 2025 was especially brutal: only 36 landed shophouse transactions worth S$281.2 million, a 10-year low that should alarm anyone who still thinks this market is bulletproof.
What’s striking isn’t just the volume drop. Q1 2025 saw transaction value crash 43% quarter-on-quarter to S$100 million, with caveated deals falling 21% from the previous quarter.
And here’s the part most commentators are missing: a growing share of deals is happening through SPV structures and share sales that never show up in caveat data. The real transaction count may be higher than reported — but that’s cold comfort when price impasses and longer negotiation cycles are quietly becoming the new normal.
Freehold shophouse prices fell roughly 18% between the first and second halves of 2025, dropping to around S$3,989 psf.
Leasehold assets bucked that trend, rising about 7% to S$4,758 psf — but that’s largely an illusion driven by a handful of high-quantum outliers like the S$12 million Pagoda Street deal skewing the averages.
If you’re a buyer or investor watching from the sidelines, this is the moment to pay attention.
Conservation-status shophouses remain scarce, with only around 6,500 conserved landed units in Singapore.
Institutional buyers and family offices haven’t disappeared — they’ve just become more patient. When motivated sellers start recycling assets from fund portfolios, that’s when windows open. ERA projects a meaningful recovery ahead, forecasting 70 to 80 transactions in 2026 with total deal values expected to reach between S$550 million and S$650 million, supported by portfolio and fund manager activity driving larger deal sizes.
On the leasing side, don’t expect occupiers to save the day. Median rents have barely moved, district-level divergence is widening — District 15 gained 12.2% while District 8 lost 9.2% — and high operating costs are squeezing tenants hard. Adding further pressure, 2,431 food and beverage closures were recorded in just the first ten months of 2025 alone, a stark indicator of how severely rising costs are hollowing out shophouse occupier demand. It’s worth noting that Q4 2025 sales value came in at approximately S$158.3 million, down 27.6% from S$218.6 million in the prior quarter.
I’ve covered this market through two recessions and multiple cooling cycles. The shophouses that hold value longest are always the ones in tightly conserved, irreplaceable streets.
Everything else right now is a negotiation waiting to happen.
