District 23 emerges as 3Q14’s residential hotspot for affluent foreign buyers

Increased cost of foreign ownership wasn’t such a difficult pill to swallow, after all.

Foreigners are beginning to adapt and adjust to the higher cost of foreign ownership of homes in Singapore after several property cooling measures implemented over the last few years to dampen foreign demand and curb speculation in the private residential market.

A report by Knight Frank reveals that District 23 (Hillview, Dairy Farm, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang) has emerged as the residential hotspot among foreign homebuyers in 3Q 2014, with the largest number of home purchases by foreign buyers.

The quarterly increase in the proportion of PR and NPR homebuyers for this district was also the largest, rising from 5.5 per cent in 2Q 2014 to 8.8 per cent in 3Q 2014.

Knight Frank adds that focusing on the prime residential Districts 9, 10 and 11, about 17.3 per cent of a total of 717 foreign homebuyer transactions island-wide were concluded in these three districts in the third quarter. 

Although this marks an improvement from the 14.0 per cent recorded in 2Q 2014, this proportion still falls slightly short of the 18.8 per cent recorded in the same quarter last year (i.e. 3Q 2013).

Here's more from Knight Frank:

Within Districts 9, 10 and 11, foreign homebuyer transactions also comprised a significant proportion of total transactions. They formed 36.3 per cent, 34.5 per cent, and 20.2 per cent of total transactions in Districts 9, 10, and 11 respectively in 3Q 2014.

The notable rise in the proportion of foreign buyers in 3Q 2014 is a reflection of foreigners’ interest to invest and reside in Singapore with its strengthening position as a global financial hub, especially in light of the recent global and regional economic uncertainties. Such foreign home-buying interest is expected to rise further as Singapore continues to establish itself as a global city with stable economic fundamentals and a conducive living environment.