Nearly 3 in 10 Singaporeans own more than one house

Unlike  HongKongers, the most important deciding factor for Singaporeans when buying a house is not the price.

According to a new survey from iProperty, in deciding on whether or not to buy property, location and price were the highest rated factors for all respondents surveyed from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and HongKong. Location was the most important factor for Malaysians, Indonesians and Singaporeans. While survey respondents in Hong Kongplaced more emphasis of their purchasing decision on price. 

The chart below shows the number of properties owned by each nationality. 43% of Malaysians surveyed owned two or more properties, the highest among all the countries surveyed, while Indonesia had the lowest percentage at 12%. Only 29% of Singaporean own 2 or more properties.

iProperty notes that across the four countries, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore, surveyed, the
market sentiment showed that the property market in Asia continues to be cautious.

The survey findings showed that people are more selective in their investments and  investors are evaluating based on quality and fundamentals of each location.

Those answering the survey tended to be the rising income group, with most in the 26 to 40 years old age group. There were also made up largely of executive/ managerial and professional occupations, mostly with annual household incomes  above the national average.

The majority of people answering the survey in each country had occupied their  current premises for less than five years; in other words, they were not the type to settle for what they already had.

Economic and political concerns were not high on the list of concerns for most survey  respondents, which reflects the general economic health of the Asian region.