Singapore » Market Report

An urban cityscape, Singapore offers the conveniences of city life- things get done, everything’s within reach or a call away with conscientiously green landscape surroundings. The conscious effort to strike a balance between convenient city life and an environmentally sane environment is reflected in the choice of housing - the city’s latest development catered towards hip, young urbanites is located opposite a trendy stretch of restaurants and watering holes but its main attraction is the Singapore River visible from your double height glass windows. 

Families wishing to be close to their workplaces and their children’s schools have the choice of black and white bungalows that are luxurious. Huge houses built on stilts, with a separate outhouse for the amah and the chauffeur, these houses have land sizes of 100,000sqft and above.

Demand for the mass residential market comes mainly from HDB (The Housing and Development Board) upgraders. Upgrading activity is more likely among HDB owners who have made capital gains on existing assets and expect further capital gains through upgrading. However, if we consider the HDB resale price index, it is apparent that any gains made by HDB owners’ very much depends on when their purchase was made, with the main beneficiaries those who purchased in the early 1990’s.

Even for those sitting on gains the expectation of further gains through upgrading is likely to be muted at this stage due to low inflationary expectations. GDP growth, wage growth and job security also factor into the equation as they influence buyer sentiment. These factors have been improving and ought to accelerate in the years ahead.

International Property Brokers forecasts that annual average rate of growth will remain 5% in the next coming years from 2008 to 2012. This strong growth in Singapore economy is due to the increase in domestic demands. The country will remain the destination of foreign investments. International Property Brokers also forecasts that Singapore property market remains positive for the medium to long term. Developers will see many fiscal opportunities in both the public as well private sectors regarding real estates in Singapore.