Some experts have compared Trump’s shock win to the recent Brexit vote in the UK.
UPDATED: Donald Trump has been elected the 45th President of the United States after beating Hillary Clinton, in one of the most divisive elections in modern US history.
The shock win has caused the US dollar and other major currencies to weaken significantly. As of this afternoon, the Singapore dollar is trading at S$1.39 against the US dollar.
Some experts PropertyGuru spoke to compared Trump’s win to the recent Brexit vote in the UK.
“Similar to the impact of Brexit, the result of the US presidential election is likely to cause further uncertainty in terms of the global economic recovery and is likely to lead to a rush towards safe haven assets,” said Nicholas Holt, Asia Pacific Research Head at Knight Frank.
“Along with gold and triple-A rated government bonds, prime real estate in key global city markets is likely to see an uptick in interest.”
Other analysts told PropertyGuru that the outlook for Asia and the rest of the world will be less rosy.
Ohio-born Jean Liggett, CEO of UK real estate agency Properties of the World, said: “Today’s Trump victory is likely to cause market trepidation around the world. Many companies and investors may look to move their investments and companies, at least in part, out of the US to safer havens.”
According to Winston Lee, Regional Head of New Projects at PropertyGuru, Trump’s victory would likely affect emerging markets in Asia that are heavily tied to America’s economy and the US dollar.
“Cambodia, for instance, where real estate is transacted in US dollars, might see property values drop due to the expected declines in the greenback. This is likely to attract property investors, drawn by the relatively lower prices,” he said.
Hari Krishnan, CEO at PropertyGuru Group, added: “We expect the real estate market in Singapore and the region to see muted increases or even declines, as investors adopt a wait-and-see attitude to see how the dust settles.”
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
