SINGAPORE, 25 April 2016 - PropertyGuru Group, (“PropertyGuru” or the “Group”), Asia's leading online property portal group, today announced the release of its Property Affordability Sentiment Survey 2016, a regular survey of Singaporean residents that provides insights into the current mood and attitudes towards the local property market.
The latest Sentiment Survey from PropertyGuru shows an increase in reported satisfaction for the local property market, with 28 per cent of respondents saying they are very or quite satisfied with the current market, up from 26 per cent during the same period in 2014.
In addition, local purchase intent has improved, with 48 per cent reporting that they intend to purchase residential property over the next six months, five per cent more than respondents who answered the same way in 2014. For those reporting to be satisfied with the local property market, the primary reason given was consistent from 2014; that there are good long term prospects for capital appreciation.
However, the number of respondents who reported being dissatisfied overall with the Singapore property market (44 per cent) remained greater than those who are satisfied (28 per cent). Dissatisfied respondents indicated that the primary reason was consistent from 2014 - expensive prices or “overpriced” property. However, a majority of respondents believe that the prices of local residential housing overall will stabilise or fall further over the next six months.
Finally, respondents who answered that the government is doing enough to make housing affordable increased by nine per cent compared to the same period in 2014, with 42 per cent saying that the government is doing enough to make housing more affordable, and 68 per cent agreeing with the government’s current property market cooling efforts.
“PropertyGuru’s latest Sentiment Survey results show that although pricing concerns remain, overall mood is more positive with almost half of respondents saying they intend to buy this year. We know that finding your ideal property can be daunting and without transparency or relevant information, the property buying process can be frustrating and confusing. Through our regular surveys, research insights, tools and media rich content, we aim to help millions of consumers make more informed and confident decisions every month,” said Steve Melhuish, CEO and Co-Founder of PropertyGuru Group.
About PropertyGuru’s Sentiment Survey 2016
PropertyGuru has been conducting a regular Property Sentiment Survey since 2009. The Property Sentiment Survey is undertaken with the aim of providing PropertyGuru’s members, partners and users with insights into the current mood and attitudes towards the local property market. The survey is the only independent local survey to measure property sentiment among Singaporeans and expectations about the property market. Similar surveys are carried out concurrently in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia with the same goal in mind.
The Property Sentiment Survey aims to help consumers and property agents gain a better perspective of the local property market, informing consumer choices and easing a property buying journey that can often be fraught with uncertainty.
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About PropertyGuru Group
PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s leading online property portal group used by more than 14 million property buyers, viewing over 116 million property pages and generating over 500,000 enquiries for real estate developer and agent advertisers – every month – across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 by two entrepreneurs with a vision to simplify the property search process and help buyers, sellers and investors make better property decisions faster. Taking advantage of Asia’s growing affluence, property demand and online explosion, PropertyGuru has become market leader in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The Group received S$175million investment - the second largest in the technology sector in Southeast Asia in 2015 - to support its innovation, marketing and further expansion in the region.
PropertyGuru has a full suite of integrated property media capability, from its original core business in Online, Mobile and Events, to Television broadcast (in Indonesia, via an investment and partnership with EMTEK), and a recent acquisition of Print and Property Awards businesses, under the brand names of “Property Report” and “Asia Property Awards”. With a continued focus on innovation, PropertyGuru has developed and launched 15 mobile applications in four countries and three languages. At present, the Group records over 2.8 million downloaded mobile apps. In the past two years, PropertyGuru launched over ten major products and enhancements to help consumers make better property decisions, such as website and mobile app revamp, FloorPlans, a new listing quality ranking algorithm, SmartSelect – the world’s first research engine for easier property comparison, Agent Insights – a ‘big-data’ development that delivers personalized insights to customers through automated programs, in-depth Project Reviews of the latest property launches, Map Search, and a whole suite of financing tools and calculators.
Businesses in the region include:
• Property search portals:
• PropertyGuru.com.sg and CommercialGuru.com.sg in Singapore
• PropertyGuru.com.my in Malaysia
• DDProperty.com in Thailand
• Rumah.com and RumahDijual.com in Indonesia
• Print and online publications:
• PropertyGuru News and Views
• Asia Property Awards in Asia
• Other Marketing solutions:
• New Project sales and marketing: ePropertyTrack
ABOUT STEVE MELHUISH
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Steve is an award-winning entrepreneur. In the last two decades, he built profitable companies throughout Asia and Europe. He co-founded PropertyGuru due to his personal frustrations at trying to find a new home in 2006. Today, PropertyGuru is the leading online property group in South East Asia used by over 14 million property seekers and 31,000 property advertisers every month.
Prior to Steve’s current role, he had advised various firms including Skype, AOL, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Extreme Media, iPass and Ariadne Capital. He also led global teams and a US$500 million turnover business unit for Cable & Wireless. In 2007, Steve was awarded the Spirit of Enterprise Award in recognition of his contributions to entrepreneurship in Singapore. Steve has invested in 4 digital media firms and is passionate about Asia + Digital.