4th Quarter Property Survey Predicts Sellers’ Market in 2011
PropertyGuru, Singapore’s leading property site, today revealed the results of its fourth quarter property sentiment survey to provide insights into the public’s needs and expectations on the property market.
Conducted in October 2010, this second survey shows optimism towards the government’s role in controlling housing prices and the demand for private property will stay; as more buyers are willing to invest in better homes. Private property investors are looking at commercial property space too. So, for the first time, questions on the commercial property market were factored into the sentiment survey.
About 3,200 respondents participated in the survey from 11 October 2010 to 20 October 2010. The research was conducted by Pulse Group PLC, a leading digital research agency and advertised on PropertyGuru.com.sg.
Mr Steve Melhuish, CEO and Co-Founder of PropertyGuru, said, “Year 2011 will still be a sellers’ market, with a strong demand for private property. There is a trend among private property investors shifting their interest from residential markets to commercial markets. The cause for the shift could be due to the government’s efforts to control the residential market. While the majority of those surveyed feel that all categories of property are expensive, 42% feel that commercial property is reasonably priced and affordable. Respondents are now more optimistic about the government’s role in regulating housing prices, with 38% thinking that the government is doing enough to control the prices.”
Some of the key findings of the survey include:
Property market sentiment
• The Consumer Property Sentiment Index for Q4 2010 was 2.4, on a scale of 5. Compared to a value of 1.25 obtained in our Q2 sentiment survey, a figure of 2.4 in Q4 depicts an escalating optimism among consumers towards property. Consumers now see property prices as more affordable.
• Respondents are more positive now towards housing prices compared to the Q2 survey, due to the latest cooling measures announced on August 30th.
• 71% of respondents feel that property along all categories in Singapore is expensive, down from 76% in Q2.
• 22% of respondents expect HDB prices to decrease up to 5%, while 16% expect prices to remain the same. However in the Q2 survey, 37% of respondents felt HDB flat prices would increase more than 5%, whereas 11.8% felt prices would remain the same.
• In the Q4 survey, 13% of respondents think prices will remain the same for condominiums and 25% feel prices will increase more than 5%.
• In the commercial property space, 30% of respondents feel prices would increase by 5% and 26% think there would be no change in prices.
• Compared to the 58% recorded in Q2, 41% of respondents in Q4 feel that the government is not doing enough to control property prices.
• Compared to the 65% recorded in Q2, almost 70% of respondents would neither upgrade nor downgrade their property.
• Almost 22% are interested in upgrading to a more expensive property compared to 27% of respondents in Q2.
Buying behaviour
• Only 6% of respondents will definitely purchase property outside Singapore, while 34% will consider, similar to the 40.6% of respondents who were looking for or considering purchasing property overseas in Q2.
• 80% of respondents looking to upgrade their property would consider taking a loan from a bank or other private sources.
• 33% of respondents will not purchase property in Singapore due to the price.
• 67% of respondents say parents are the decision makers when buying property.
• Top motivation factors in purchase of property include price, location, capital appreciation and rental yield.
PropertyGuru’s survey aims to help the public gain a better perspective on the property market, enrich business decisions and create more innovative types of investment avenues for consumers and property agents alike. The survey also covers the following aspects:
• Concerns with current property (HDB, condominium, uncompleted condominium, landed, commercial, potential en-bloc/collective sales) market prices
• Forecast on property prices for the next 12 months
• Opinions on Government measures
• Forecast on property downgrades/upgrades for the next 12 months
• Property buying intentions and mode of financing
• Demands of overseas investments
• Important factors when considering property purchase
For more information, please visit www.propertyguru.com.sg
Media Contacts:
Florence Fang
Flame Communications
Contact number: 6253 3193
Email: florence@flamecomms.com
Ms Winnie Khoo
PropertyGuru International (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Contact number: 6238 5971
Email: winnie@propertyguru.com.sg