JLL sees 2016's recovery in property demand from foreigners to extend into 2017

Published Tue, Nov 29, 2016 · 04:47 AM

THERE has been a high demand from foreigners for Singapore's private residential property this year, a JLL study released on Tuesday showed.

The number of foreign buyers, excluding Singapore permanent residents, in the first nine months of 2016 rose 11.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, driven by nationals from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United States.

The Chinese buyers were the most active, accounting for 29.4 per cent of all foreign purchases from January to September. Indonesians were second, accounting for 14.6 per cent of all foreign purchases during the same period.

"Chinese buyers have overtaken Indonesians as the top foreign buyers of private homes in Singapore since 2010 and this can be attributed to the wealth growth of the Chinese and their increasing familiarity with the Singapore residential market," the study said.

It noted the interesting growing prominence of buyers from the US with 57 transactions in the first three quarters of 2016. They took fourth spot and accounted for 7.3 per cent of foreigner purchases - a significant increase in proportion, relative to the 1.1 per cent in 2011.

"US nationals are exempt from additional buyers' stamp duties under the free trade agreement, which partly explains their purchases, although the absolute number attributable to them was even higher in 2013, at 119," the study said.

Among the top foreign buyers in the first nine months of 2016, Indonesians have higher budgets, with most of their deals falling in S$3 million. They have a strong preference for pricier properties above S$1,400 per square foot (psf) and located in Core Central Region.

In comparison, Chinese and Malaysians are more budget-conscious as a higher proportion of the properties they picked up were priced below S$1.5 million and within the range of S$750-S$1,700 psf.

JLL expects the recovery in foreign demand in 2016 to continue into 2017, with properties in the prime city centre seen as the preferred choice.