Residential market sees more foreign buyers in 2016

The number of foreign buyers surged 11.7% in the first nine months.

It has been a positive year so far for Singapore's private residential property market with the improved sentiment and transaction volume especially with foreign buyers.

A recent study by the real estate firm JLL proved this, as it revealed that the number of foreign buyers (excluding permanent residents) in the first nine months of 2016 rose 11.7% to 782 transactions compared to the same period last year.

This was driven by Chinese buyers, who accounted for 29.4% of all foreign purchases from the start of the year. The Indonesians were second, accounting for 14.6% of all foreign purchases in the same time period.

"Chinese buyers have overtaken Indonesians as the top foreign buyers of private homes in Singapore since 2010 and this can be attributed to the wealth growth of the Chinese and their increasing familiarity with the Singapore residential market," the firm explained.

Meanwhile, there is an interest in the growing prominence of buyers from United States. JLL recorded 57 transactions involving buyers from the United States in the first three quarters of 2016, taking fourth spot and accounting for 7.3% of foreigner purchases.

"This is a significant increase in proportion, relative to the 1.1% in 2011. USA nationals are exempt from Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duties (ABSD) under the Free Trade Agreement, which partly explains their purchases, although the absolute number attributable to them was even higher in 2013, at 119," the firm noted.