The number of private homes in Singapore purchased by mainland Chinese during the first three quarters of this year plummeted by 48 percent from the same period in 2011, reported The Business Times.
According to Knight Frank’s analysis of caveats data from URA Realis, China nationals bought just 1,066 units in the first nine months, an almost 50 percent drop from the 2,046 units seen during the same period last year.
In addition, residential deals involving Malaysians and Indonesians also fell, although not as much as the Chinese. Nonetheless, the buying patterns of these groups have changed.
“Chinese buyers used to be more active in the prime districts 9, 10 and 11 prior to the introduction of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) – with 17 percent of the total number of homes picked up by China buyers (comprising both Singapore permanent residents and non-PRs) in 2009 located in these three districts,” said Png Poh Soon, Research Head at Knight Frank.
“The proportion declined to 15 percent in 2010, 12 percent last year and only 10 percent in the first nine months of 2012.”
Meanwhile, Malaysians emerged as the top overseas buyers of private homes in the city-state, taking up 1,394 units from January to September. But this figure is 7.5 percent lower compared to last year.
“Singapore remains a preferred destination to buy properties among Malaysians due to the two countries’ geographical proximity and cultural similarity,” said Png, adding that districts 19 and 18 were two of the most popular locations for those buyers in Q3.
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