Foreigners bought 31% of private homes in 2011

So from which countries do the top four foreign buyers come from?

According to Savills Research, buoyed by strong immigration and robust economic fundamentals, Singapore remained an attractive investment destination among foreigners (permanent and nonpermanent residents) on the back of the ongoing global economic turmoil. In 2011, foreigners purchased 31% of private homes. This is an historical high, having grown more than two-fold from ten years ago.

The top four foreign buyers in 2011 were mainland Chinese (28% of all foreign purchases), Malaysians (20%), Indonesians (18%) and Indians (12%). Mainland Chinese bought the most private homes in the outside of central region (OCR) (31% of all foreign purchases in the OCR) followed by Malaysians (22%). Mainland Chinese were also the top buyers in the rest of central region (RCR) (27% of all foreign purchases in the RCR), followed by Malaysians (20%). In the CCR, Indonesians (30% of all foreign purchases in the CCR) and mainland Chinese (20%) were the top foreign buyers.

These four groups of foreign buyers were also found to have varying purchasing powers and
their investment preferences have changed over the years. More particularly, their buying behaviour will likely be impacted by the new property measures implemented on 8 December 2011, although in differing degrees.