Foreigners snapped up 23% of month-to-date private condo purchases

Buyers from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and unspecified origin accounted for 16% of the transactions.

For the month to date, non-Singaporeans accounted for 23% of buyers of private condos, excluding executive condos (EC), Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data showed.

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In a note, Jefferies Singapore indicated that Singaporean buyers represented 80% of the incremental transactions, on the higher side of the historical trend.

“Buyers from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and unspecified origin constitute 16% of the transactions which is lower than 18% reported earlier. Inflows may be channelled into commercial properties,” said Jefferies Singapore analyst Krishna Guha.

Some of the inflows in Singapore may be part of assets under management (AUM) of family offices, Guha said. “This may be deployed into commercial properties including strata office/retail properties.”

Other geographies like UK and Australia may be attracting some flows as well. Guha said, “This is primarily from children's education perspective. Investors who are comfortable with emerging market risk-return profile are keen on properties in Thailand. Prices are range-bound, new sales volume steady.”

Private non-landed prices grew 0.2% MoM in July due to new launches as resale prices declined 0.5% MoM in the period. Month to date, new sales amounted to 435 units.