A relatively smaller percentage of private home buyers, particularly foreigners who are not permanent residents (PRs), have been active in the subsale market this year than in recent years, according to DTZ.
This trend is primarily attributed to the increase in supply of newly-launched units over the past two years and the overall decline in subsale transactions, following the implementation of the high seller’s stamp duty (SSD) rates in January.
“The percentage of foreign buyers who picked up their units in the subsale market was much higher in 2007-2009 than in 2010-2011 — compared to PRs and Singaporeans,” said Chua Chor Hoon, Head of Asia-Pacific Research at DTZ.
Of the total number of private homes acquired by foreigners, those bought on the subsale market dropped from 18 percent to 21 percent in 2007 – 2009 to 13 percent in 2010 and 11 percent in Q3 2011, according to DTZ’s analysis of URA Realis caveats data.
The number of acquisitions by PRs from the subsale market fell from 13 percent to 14 percent in 2007 – 2009 to 10 percent last year and in Q3 2011.
“Usually, those who are here (mainly Singaporeans and PRs) have the first bite of the cherry when it comes to new property launches as they can easily attend the launches, view showflats and book their units. (In the past), foreigners who missed out on these launches often had to turn to the subsale market,” Chua noted.
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