Singapore property lures big buyers

Singapore property lures big buyers

Bernice Han, Agence France-Presse/Singapore

Singapore's tallest condominium project will only be ready in 2009 at the earliest but that has not stopped Asian buyers from joining the rush for one of the most prestigious addresses in town.

At least 30 percent of the buyers at the soft launch of Tower 2 of the Sail at Marina Bay were from the region, especially China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan and India, according to developer City Developments Limited (CDL).

Fewer than 30 apartments remain unsold in the 430-unit Tower 2 where the price of a one-bedroom unit measuring 57-72 square meters can set a buyer back by at least S$620,000 (US$366,864).

But even that is seen as a bargain by some regional investors.

Property analysts said the recovery in property prices here has lagged that of neighboring economies by 40-60 percent since the region was hit by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) health epidemic in 2003.

SARS shook up the travel industry and slowed down the economies of much of East Asia, including Singapore, six years after a regional financial crisis also hit the property sector.

"Our immediate neighbors have already run up so much (since SARS)," said Leslie Chua, the Singapore-based head of regional real estate intelligence for Jones Lang LaSalle.

"If you look at places like Hong Kong, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, it's been trading very well.

"With all those markets running up so much, Singapore looks attractive."

According to Chua's calculations, property prices in Hong Kong have shot up by 60 percent since the SARS outbreak, while in Kuala Lumpur, the increase is about 40 percent.

Prices in Shanghai, increasingly on the radar screens of investors, are up also by 40 percent, Chua said.

By comparison, prices in Singapore rose by less than 10 percent over the same period, he said.

Apart from the attractive valuations, foreign buyers are also attracted to Singapore's status as a stable country and for those planning to send their kids to schools here, the education system, rated as one of the best in Asia, is a plus factor, analysts said.

"We are perceived as a safe market so we will attract investors who are interested to put their money here," said Nicholas Mak, head of consultancy and research at Knight Frank property consultancy.

"There are some markets where it is easy to buy the property but difficult to exit," he said.

Mak said many Asian buyers are also planning to send their children here to study, so investing in a piece of property would be a useful investment.

A recent Jones Lang LaSalle study said more than half the buyers of new residential projects in the September quarter were foreigners who went mostly for the high-end units.

According to the study, prices of top-tier apartments at the end of June were still about 32 percent below their peak just before the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

"Singapore's luxury residential prices have remained stable in the past few years, lagging behind other major Asian cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Bangkok," the study said.

Things have begun to stir this year and share prices of property companies in Singapore have enjoyed a mini-boom after the government announced in July new measures to boost the market, including a relaxation of certain rules to allow foreign ownership.

The share price of Keppel Land, for example, is up almost 40 percent since the announcement of the government's pro-property measures while Wing Tai Holdings is 23 percent higher and CDL's share price is up almost 1.7 percent.

Prices of upmarket apartments and condominiums rose 4.1 percent in the July-September period to an average S$1,020 per square foot. This is double the 2.1 percent rise in the second quarter.

Preliminary government figures showed housing prices rose 1.1 percent in the third quarter, the biggest quarterly increase in five years.

So overwhelming is the response to the CDL project, made up of two sail-shaped towers with the taller 70-story Tower 1 rising to 245 meters, that CDL is considering canceling the public launch of the 63-story Tower 2 block.

Last year's sales launch of the 70-story Tower 1 was equally popular with foreign investors making up 40 percent of the buyers, according to CDL, which is the joint developer with AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp.