Singapore home prices buoyant as demographics support demand

LONG-TERM demographic and population trends could underlie increases in private residential demand and prices, even as low interest rates, a strong HDB resale market and concerns of supply constraints remain at play. The NUS Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) looks at the trajectory of private housing demand across several decades, through a demographic lens.

The baby-boomer generation - born between 1946 and 1964 - has played a key role in driving Singapore's housing market since entering their home-buying years in the 1980s.

But as they now progressively exit the residential segment and the economy, and with the number of live births steadily declining since 1998, demographically driven demand for housing may start to slow, says IREUS deputy director Lee Nai Jia. Countries with rapidly ageing populations such as Japan have seen their residential sectors go into a "winter" mode.