Foreigners splurge on luxury condos in Singapore

The presence of foreigners in the market has grown even stronger in the reviewed quarter. The proportion of non-landed private homes bought by foreigners hit a historical high of 33% in the first half of this year. Compared with 1H/2010, this is a 5 percentage point increase year-on-year. In contrast, purchases by Singaporeans hit a low of 65% during the same period, dipping more than 5 percentage points year-on-year.

Mainland Chinese buyers topped the charts again with 627 non-landed private home purchases in Q2, registering a 20% quarter-on-quarter increase. Malaysians were the second largest group of foreign buyers, followed by Indonesians and Indians.

For the high-end segment, the proportion of non-landed luxury private homes bought by foreigners surged 5 percentage points year-on-year to 40% in the first half of this year, registering a new high. In 2000, the percentage of non-landed luxury homes bought by foreigners was only 20%. The highest number of foreign buyers who bought high-end non-landed private homes came from Indonesia, followed by China and Malaysia.

The strong foreign buying interest is poised to strengthen further as more overseas funds are expected to flow into Asia amidst the escalating economic uncertainties in the west and more tightening measures in Hong Kong and China.