2020 property investment up even as retail consumption slides

Post-lockdown, well-heeled locals free to view new flats; retail sector still hurting without tourism dollar

Nisha Ramchandani

Published Mon, Jan 25, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Property developers

Singapore

NEW private homes were high on the shopping list for some in Singapore last year.

But the same cannot be said for retail spending, which has not fully recovered given fewer tourists here to wine and dine, while snapping up cosmetics and other discretionary items.

Data collated by NUS' Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) showed that the retail sales index sank over 40 per cent year-on-year in April, while new private home sales slumped some 58 per cent to 256 units after developers were forced to shutter sales galleries, and physical home viewings were disallowed.

The plunge in retail sales deepened in May, declining over 52 per cent. To be sure, as the economy progressively re-opened, retail sales surged possibly due to "revenge spending" after the "circui…