Foreigners back in private home market
Foreign buyers are streaming back into the private homes market in growing numbers, especially those from China
Joyce Teo
The Straits Times
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Foreign buyers are streaming back into the private homes market in growing numbers,
especially those from
China.
Buyers from
China have
dislodged those from India for the
No. 3 spot in the rankings this year with a contribution of nearly
15% of total foreign purchases. This puts China just behind Indonesia in the second spot and Malaysia at No. 1.
In the past two years, India had been in third spot, but it has slipped to fourth.
Last year, buyers from
China had
moved up to the No. 4 spot, dislodging buyers from Britain.
About
54% of the purchases by
China buyers were for
resale homes, said DTZ head of South-east Asia research Chua Chor Hoon.
Like Malaysian buyers, buyers from
China tend to prefer homes priced between $500,000 and $1 million.
One-fifth of them bought homes costing $1.5 million to as much as $5 million.
This group was also more likely to buy homes in
prime districts than permanent residents, said Ms Sun. ‘We are hearing that more of these
super-rich mainland Chinese buyers
have come in recent weeks to buy
prime properties like the bungalows in Sentosa Cove.’
‘We are one of the places they are considering. They see Singapore as a
safe haven,’ said Ms Wong.