Singapore, 06 Oct 2022 Chinese buyers have snapped up the biggest share of Singapore’s condo market in 2022 compared with other foreigners, as total foreign buying of private non-landed homes almost bounced back to pre-pandemic levels.
Buyers from China (both permanent residents and non-PRs) purchased 932 private non-landed units in the first eight months of 2022, almost twice the number bought by Malaysians, who came in second, according to a report by real estate consultancy OrangeTee & Tie.
In terms of proportion, foreign buyers made up 4.3 per cent of total condo purchasers in the eight months, up from 3.8 per cent in the same period last year. “Despite the increased additional buyer’s stamp duty, some buyers consider luxury properties here to be cheaper than in many other cities, given that prices have similarly increased in those places,” said Ms Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie's senior vice-president of research and analytics. The latest cooling measures introduced last week are “not likely to be significant” as these high net worth individuals have sufficient cash or capital, she added.
OrangeTee & Tie said that for foreign buyers, the “sweet spot” when it comes to prices falls between $800,000 and $2 million for a condo. For January to August 2022, the majority of Chinese and Indian buyers picked up units between $800,000 and $3 million. For Malaysian buyers, units priced less than $2 million made up the bulk of purchases.