SG, 08 Nov 2020 The economic recession Singapore has endured from the pandemic and global trade tensions does not appear to be reflected in its property market. At the same time as government data showed that the national economy shrank by 13.2 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, private home prices rose by 0.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
According to the developers’ sales survey by the URA, new home sales, excluding executive condominiums (EC), rose by 5.6 per cent from 1,258 units in August to 1,329 units in September, the highest monthly result since July 2018. Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie Pte Ltd, said these results indicate that Singapore properties “are still hot amid the pandemic”. Linking robust sales over the past few months to strong underlying demand from local buyers, Sun said many Singaporeans, especially high net worth individuals, “have been looking out for value assets to grow their wealth and are planning to ride on the wave of market recovery”.