Affordability sentiment still low amongst property seekers

This is despite the signs of market recovery.

For property seekers in Singapore, affordability sentiment remains low for the first half of the year.

According to PropertyGuru Group’s Consumer Sentiment Survey, there is a sense of consumer pessimism that highlights the gap between consumers’ views on affordability, and the anticipation of a market turnaround in the real estate industry.

The property affordability sentiment index remained unchanged from last year's 29 points. This is despite recent signs of market recovery and generally lower property prices across property types.

The sentiment is measured by factoring in consumer perceptions on the real estate market and a value for money rating. It also takes into account external realities, such as the interest rate situation, perceived government efforts and anticipated property prices in the next one to five years.

Meanwhile, the study also revealed that the overall consumer satisfaction with the real estate climate has improved since its lowest point in 2013. The most recent survey however indicated a small dip of two per cent, from 36% in 2016, to 34% in the first half of this year.

The top cited reason for satisfaction with the real estate climate were the good prospects for long term capital appreciation. This measure increased from 14% to 29% from 2016.

On the flip side, overpriced properties remain the top reason cited for dissatisfaction with the real estate climate, with seven out of 10 respondents attributing it to their negative sentiment. Furthermore, only 32% t of the respondents felt that there were sufficient government efforts to make housing more affordable.