Local property giants should aspire to pan-Asean leadership

SINGAPORE’S property market is generally seen as stable. Projects have large gross development values that can make meaningful contributions to businesses. And housing developers look to sell out a large proportion of units off-plan way ahead of construction completion.

Still, limitations exist. The private housing market serves a fairly small catchment as Singapore’s population is tiny compared with many countries, and close to 80 per cent of resident households live in public housing. 

Hence, property groups venture abroad to diversify as property cycles may vary across countries, as well as to scale up their business. Several leading players here built China as a core market and prospered as its economy transformed, households grew richer and there was rapid urbanisation.