The Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) will be heading a new focus group to research the issues affecting Singapore’s real estate market.
The group, comprising Redas members, as well as analysts and researchers from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), Cushman & Wakefield, DTZ, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Knight Frank and Savills, will examine the factors that drive the demand for the residential property market.
“With the market situation so fluid, it is time that we set up this working group. We need to have a better handle on a lot of issues,” said Dr. Steven Choo, Chief Executive of Redas.
At the moment, the group is tasked with classifying private homes and categorising properties as either luxury, high-end, mid-tier or mass-market, with factors like amenities and features of the development which influence the price of the property.
Currently, the Urban Redevelopment (URA) classifies private homes through its location-based Quarterly Property Price Index and through geographic categories — Core Central Region, Rest of Central Region, and Outside of Central Region.
In addition to the URA’s classification, Redas will consider factors like designs and amenities featured in the developments, as well as the increased popularity of certain areas. From there, the group will create an index and analyse the demand drivers.
A monthly index compiled by the National University of Singapore (NUS) indicated that non-landed private homes prices rose 2.6 percent in January, while the URA’s index showed private home prices surged to 17.6 percent last year.
Mah Bow Tan, National Development Minister, reassured Parliament last week that the government “is determined to do whatever is necessary to maintain market stability.”