Compared to previous years, more foreign developers are now choosing to develop land parcels in Singapore, said June Yang, Assistant Manager of Research at JLL Singapore.
Several factors have contributed to the higher number of overseas players entering the residential market, including increased transparency in the business and property markets here, greater ease of doing business and positive investment, Yang wrote in a blog post.
In the past, such participation came from just a few neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Hong Kong, but this has since expanded to include Chinese firms.
Between 2009 and 2013, foreign participation in the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme surged from just 5.5 percent to a record high of over 20 percent, JLL data revealed.
However, this has since slipped to 13.1 percent in 2014 due to the cutback in land supply from the government.
According to Yang, “In the past, many foreign developers partnered with locals in the development of residential land. Increasingly, these same foreign developers have embarked on such projects on their own, after having gained sufficient confidence and familiarity with the local market.
“However, given the property cooling measures currently in place, these developers are likely to take a more cautionary stance going forward,” she added.
Some big name foreign companies who have been active in the domestic market in recent years include MCC Land and Qingjian Realty from China, and also Malaysia’s SP Setia.
Photo by URA.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
