Foreigners buy a third of private homes in S'pore, M'sians 20% of it

Saturday, 11 February 2012 05:47

SINGAPORE: Foreigners snapped up about 9,300 private homes last year - making it a record one-third of total sales - as factors such as low interest rates and robust economic fundamentals ignited the property market.

Their buying patterns have entered new territory as well, with purchasers moving from the traditional prime districts of nine, 10 and 11 to emerging hot spots in Tampines and Pasir Ris.

The 2011 boom could be a high water mark, given that December’s cooling measures added a 10% stamp duty on homes bought by foreigners.

While that makes this year one of uncertainty, there is no denying the market’s strength last year.

Last year’s numbers, contained in a report by consultancy Savills Singapore, found that foreigners, including permanent residents (PRs), accounted for 31% of the transactions - an all-time high.

It also showed that Chinese buyers were behind 28% of all foreign purchases, with Malaysians next at 20%, Indonesians at 18%, and Indians at 12%.

Comparable figures for foreigner purchases in other countries were not readily available, consultants said. Singapore’s proportion might also be skewed because PRs are included in the tally.

Alan Cheong, director of research and consultancy at Savills, noted that although the Chinese were the top buyers, Indonesians had the largest budgets and dominated city-centre deals.

“About 79% of their total purchases were above US$1mil, indicating that Indonesian buyers were relatively less active in purchasing small-format or ‘Mickey Mouse’ homes, which are typically priced below US$1mil,” he added.

The new stamp duty was expected to hit the luxury segment hard as foreigners made up 43% of all prime home sales, Cheong noted. — The Straits Times

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