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Transaction volume by foreign home buyers fall 26.1% in 1Q2020

By Valerie Kor

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

June 4, 2020 4:00 PM SGT

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Based on the residential status of home buyers in Singapore, the number of foreign home purchasers have fallen the most by 26.1% to 215 units in 1Q2020, compared to other statuses, according to Edmund Tie’s Private Homes Report for June 2020.

Transaction volumes by Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs) decreased by 12.5% and 10.5% respectively in 1Q2020.

Source: URA Realis, Edmund Tie Research

As a proportion of sales by residential status, however, the percentage of foreign buyers has only declined by 1 percentage point from 7% in 4Q2019 to 6% in 1Q2020. Of the private home buyers with known residential status in 1Q2020, 78% are Singaporeans and 16% are PRs.

As a whole, the number of buyers has declined as absolute transaction volume has fallen. Out of all non-landed transactions by foreign home buyers, the “unspecified” group comprised the largest at 27% in 1Q2020. This is followed by mainland Chinese buyers, which comprised 23.7%, a drop from 27.9% in 4Q2019.

In the traditional prime districts of 9, 10 and 11, mainland Chinese constitute over a quarter (25.6%) of foreign buyers in 1Q2020, an increase from 25.3% in 4Q2019. They are followed by Indonesians (14.1%), Malaysians (8.3%) and Americans (8.3%). Mainland Chinese also consitute the largest percentage of foreign buyers in city and emerging districts (District 1, 2, 4, 7 and 15), constituting 26.3%, as well as other suburban and city-fringe districts, constituting 22%.

Read more: Post-Covid-19 recovery in private residential market expected to be similar to post-H1N1 rally

Source: URA, Edmund Tie Research

Meanwhile, overall transactions have fallen as a result of showflat closures, extended rules against conducting home viewings, fewer new launches and economic uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Transaction volumes for private homes have declined for the second consecutive quarter by 14.4% q-o-q to 4,174 homes in 1Q2020. It is the lowest since 1Q2019, when total transactions registered were 3,743 units.

In the Core Central Region (CCR), 859 units were launched in 1Q2020, which is up from 525 units in 4Q2019. Due to the popularity of certain projects such as The M, there were 546 units sold in the CCR new sales market. In the Rest of Central Region (RCR), there were 623 units launched in 1Q2020, up from 493 in 4Q2019. However, transaction volume has declined 14.7% q-o-q.

As for the Outside Central Region (OCR), 611 units were launched, nearly half the figure in 4Q2020. As a result new sales in the OCR fell by 30.7% to below 1,000 units transacted in 1Q2020, the lowest since 4Q2018.

Overall, the number of new sales decreased by 12% q-o-q to 2,149 units in 1Q2020. Transactions of resale units fell by a larger 16.8% q-o-q to 2,025 units in the same period.

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