Here's why investment volume dropped in Q1 2015

The market has become quieter.

The Hong Kong commercial property investment market turned quieter in Q1 2015, with transaction volume falling significantly.

According to a research note from CBRE, total investment turnover (including transactions worth US$10 million and above, excluding pure land site transactions) during the period decline by 42.2% q-o-q to HK$10.2 billion.

This is the lowest figure since Q3 2013, the report noted.

No transactions worth HK$1.0 billion were recorded. The largest deal was HK$700 million, with the majority of trades at or below HK$300 million.

Here's more from CBRE:

The decline in investment volume was due to a combination of the first quarter traditionally being a quiet period for the market and also because of the lack of assets available for sale.

Tradable stock, particularly en-bloc assets, on the market has fallen significantly after the robust investment activity witnessed in recent quarters.

Given the lack of stock for sale, a number of institutional investors, including several REITs, shifted their focus to development sites during the quarter.