Foreigners' share of home purchases creeping up

[SINGAPORE] Private home purchases fell across the board in the first three months of this year to just over 2,000 units - the first time in more than five years that the number has dropped below 3,000 homes. However, foreigners' share of transactions edged up because of a sharper pullback by Singaporean buyers.

Singaporeans' share - at 70 per cent - is at its lowest since the introduction of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) in Q4 2011. In absolute terms, purchases by permanent residents (PRs) and foreign buyers were also at their lowest levels since the Q1 2009 market trough during the global financial crisis.

Based on DTZ's caveats analysis of URA Realis data as at April 15, Singaporean buyers accounted for 70 per cent of the 2,076 private homes that changed hands in Q1 this year, down from the 73 per cent share in both Q4 and Q1 last year.