reporter2
06-02-20, 16:51
Private home demand may see weakness on travel restrictions
Mainland Chinese citizens the biggest overseas buyers of private homes in Singapore, especially at some luxury projects
Sat, Feb 01, 2020
KALPANA RASHIWALA
PRIVATE home buying demand from Chinese investors may see some short-term weakness with the temporary entry ban into Singapore for all Chinese passport holders who are not residents here, as well as travellers who were in mainland China in the past fortnight amid the Wuhan virus outbreak.
Mainland Chinese citizens are the biggest overseas buyers of private homes in Singapore. In the past 12 months they have been particularly active at certain luxury projects.
A developer who declined to be named told BT: "Buying momentum from Chinese buyers will definitely be dampened for the time being. However, if fundamentals remain strong for the market and the virus outbreak ends sooner than expected, then the impact may not be as bad."
Among the projects that saw significant buying from China buyers last year were Boulevard 88, South Beach Residences, New Futura and 3 Orchard By-The-Park.
Developers continue to make preparations for upcoming project launches, though some may adopt a wait-and-see attitude. However, others are going ahead. At 8 am on Friday, Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments opened the doors to the sales gallery of their Parc Canberra executive condo (EC) project.
By 8 pm, some 1,500 visitors had turned up, said Koon Wai Leong, general manager of Hoi Hup Realty.
"We've been ready for launch since the start of the year, and after waiting for the initial Chinese New Year festive period, we decided to proceed with opening the showflat. We feel we should not overreact to the situation. We've taken the necessary precautionary measures - including mandatory temperature checks, hand sanitising and recording contact details of all visitors at the registration counter. We have increased the frequency of cleaning at the showflat."
ECs are a public-private hybrid housing type. Buyers in a new EC project must be Singapore citizens although a Singapore permanent resident may team up with a Singapore citizen to buy a new EC unit.
Michael Ng, executive director of CEL Development, told BT that the company plans to launch its private condo project Kopar at Newton. "All along, our target has been to get the project launch ready by end-March with the aim of starting sales in April. Now we'll re-evaluate closer to the time."
Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas) president Chia Ngiang Hong, when approached by BT at the association's Spring Festival Lunch on Friday, said: "We hope the Wuhan virus epidemic will not last too long. Some developers will continue to launch projects, but will take the necessary precautions when opening their showflats to visitors."
Mr Chia, who is also group general manager at City Developments, added: "I recall that during the Sars outbreak in 2003, we launched The Pier at Robertson condo; people came to the showflat wearing masks and the sales response was not bad."
In his speech at the Redas function, Mr Chia said Singapore's private housing market appears to be stabilising in line with economic fundamentals.
At the start of the year, most analysts said they expected new private home sales this year to remain resilient and roughly match 2019's level. "Prices of new homes are not expected to change much (this year)," Mr Chia said.
He noted, however, that new home sales performance has been uneven across different projects and segments, and property developers' concerns over the upcoming supply and build-up of unsold inventory remain.
Edmund Tie & Co chief executive Ong Choon Fah said for most people, their top concern now is health; they would not want to go to crowded places. "So we are likely to see an overall slowdown in activity at showflats in the near term. If there is no compelling reason for a potential buyer to seal a deal immediately, they would probably defer their decision until the situation stabilises."
Mainland Chinese citizens the biggest overseas buyers of private homes in Singapore, especially at some luxury projects
Sat, Feb 01, 2020
KALPANA RASHIWALA
PRIVATE home buying demand from Chinese investors may see some short-term weakness with the temporary entry ban into Singapore for all Chinese passport holders who are not residents here, as well as travellers who were in mainland China in the past fortnight amid the Wuhan virus outbreak.
Mainland Chinese citizens are the biggest overseas buyers of private homes in Singapore. In the past 12 months they have been particularly active at certain luxury projects.
A developer who declined to be named told BT: "Buying momentum from Chinese buyers will definitely be dampened for the time being. However, if fundamentals remain strong for the market and the virus outbreak ends sooner than expected, then the impact may not be as bad."
Among the projects that saw significant buying from China buyers last year were Boulevard 88, South Beach Residences, New Futura and 3 Orchard By-The-Park.
Developers continue to make preparations for upcoming project launches, though some may adopt a wait-and-see attitude. However, others are going ahead. At 8 am on Friday, Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments opened the doors to the sales gallery of their Parc Canberra executive condo (EC) project.
By 8 pm, some 1,500 visitors had turned up, said Koon Wai Leong, general manager of Hoi Hup Realty.
"We've been ready for launch since the start of the year, and after waiting for the initial Chinese New Year festive period, we decided to proceed with opening the showflat. We feel we should not overreact to the situation. We've taken the necessary precautionary measures - including mandatory temperature checks, hand sanitising and recording contact details of all visitors at the registration counter. We have increased the frequency of cleaning at the showflat."
ECs are a public-private hybrid housing type. Buyers in a new EC project must be Singapore citizens although a Singapore permanent resident may team up with a Singapore citizen to buy a new EC unit.
Michael Ng, executive director of CEL Development, told BT that the company plans to launch its private condo project Kopar at Newton. "All along, our target has been to get the project launch ready by end-March with the aim of starting sales in April. Now we'll re-evaluate closer to the time."
Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas) president Chia Ngiang Hong, when approached by BT at the association's Spring Festival Lunch on Friday, said: "We hope the Wuhan virus epidemic will not last too long. Some developers will continue to launch projects, but will take the necessary precautions when opening their showflats to visitors."
Mr Chia, who is also group general manager at City Developments, added: "I recall that during the Sars outbreak in 2003, we launched The Pier at Robertson condo; people came to the showflat wearing masks and the sales response was not bad."
In his speech at the Redas function, Mr Chia said Singapore's private housing market appears to be stabilising in line with economic fundamentals.
At the start of the year, most analysts said they expected new private home sales this year to remain resilient and roughly match 2019's level. "Prices of new homes are not expected to change much (this year)," Mr Chia said.
He noted, however, that new home sales performance has been uneven across different projects and segments, and property developers' concerns over the upcoming supply and build-up of unsold inventory remain.
Edmund Tie & Co chief executive Ong Choon Fah said for most people, their top concern now is health; they would not want to go to crowded places. "So we are likely to see an overall slowdown in activity at showflats in the near term. If there is no compelling reason for a potential buyer to seal a deal immediately, they would probably defer their decision until the situation stabilises."