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The large, 5.74ha Government Land Sales (GLS) plot at Bayshore Drive could draw up to six bids from developer consortiums, with the top bid expected to set a potential record of around $2 billion, according to analysts. 

HSBC’s head of Asia equity strategy, Herald van der Linde, has upgraded his outlook on Singapore equities to overweight from neutral.

Van der Linde’s assessment of the Singapore market was published in a report he co-wrote with HSBC analysts Prerna Garg, Adam Qi, and Varun Pai on March 31. Titled “Looking beyond the uncertainty,” the report is part of the bank’s “Asia Equity Insights Quarterly” series.

After years of falling rents and rising vacancies, Central — Hong Kong’s core business district — is showing signs of stabilisation. The rebound is being driven by renewed capital markets activities and fresh demand from financial institutions, according to a March 19 report by DBS Group Research.

Office rents in Central have risen by more than 5% since 4Q2025, while vacancy rates have steadily declined to 9.9% as of February — the lowest level in two years.

On the back of successful execution of business strategies to enhance shareholder value and sector tailwinds, Lim and Tan Securities have initiated coverage on Beng Kuang Marine with a “buy” rating at target price of 53.5 cents.

City & Country revisits the quarter’s biggest headlines and headliners. Here are our picks for the Movers & Shakers of the real estate industry in 1Q2026:

The rumoured merger between CapitaLand Investment (CLI) and the unlisted Mapletree Investments would be a “good move”, says John Lim, the industry veteran who co-founded real estate fund manager ARA Asset Management in 2002.

“Size is important,” says the pioneer of Singapore REITs (S-REITs) on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (Aprea) Singapore conference on March 25. “At $30, $40, $50 billion in [assets under management (AUM)], compared with the global players, you are very small. $100 billion at least, and you can have a seat at the adults’ table.”

The closing of the sale of M1 by Keppel to Tuas has been extended due to regulatory reasons, but Lim Siew Khee and Meghana Kande of CGS International do not think the sale will be called off. 

The long-stop date of the sale, announced last August, has been extended to May 21, instead of the original six-month timeline.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is "weighing all matters in light of the industry consolidation and the critical national infrastructure involved," note the analysts. 

To recap, Tuas, which owns Simba, is listed in Australia.

Syahril Hanafiah of RHB Bank Singapore has initiated coverage of iFast Corp with a "buy" call and $12.20 target price, with a view that this company is a key beneficiary of the growing Asia-Pacific wealth management market. 

"Earnings growth is braced by the scaling up of iFast Global Bank (iGB), stable recurring income from the ePension division, and its well-established wealth management platform business," says Hanafiah.