The proportion of foreign homebuyers, comprising Permanent Residents (PRs) and non-PRs (NPRs), increased from 22.9 per cent in Q2 2014 to 27.7 per cent in Q3 2014, according to Knight Frank’s latest Research Bulletin for the Residential sector.
The increase comes after a quarter-on-quarter decline in Q2.
“This rise in home-buying interest could signal that foreigners are beginning to adapt and adjust to the higher cost of foreign ownership of homes in Singapore. Such increased cost is a result of several property cooling measures implemented over the last few years to dampen foreign demand and curb speculation in the private residential market,” said Tan Tee Khoon, Executive Director, Residential Services at Knight Frank Singapore.
Foreign buyer interest was particularly strong in District 23 which recorded the largest number of home purchases by foreign buyers in Q3 2014.
The quarterly increase in the proportion of PR and NPR homebuyers for this district (which includes Hillview, Dairy Farm, Choa Chu Kang) was also the largest, rising from 5.5 per cent in Q2 2014 to 8.8 per cent in Q3 2014.
There were a total of 717 foreign homebuyer transactions throughout the country in the third quarter, and about 17.3 percent were in the prime residential Districts 9, 10 and 11, marking an increase from the 14 percent recorded in Q2 2014.
Foreign homebuyer transactions formed 36.3 percent, 34.5 percent, and 20.2 percent of total transactions in Districts 9, 10, and 11 respectively in Q3 2014.
According to Knight Frank, the rise in the ration of foreign buyers from July to September reflects foreigners’ interest to invest and live in Singapore. Tan added, “Such foreign home-buying interest is expected to rise further as Singapore continues to establish itself as a global city with stable economic fundamentals and a conducive living environment.”
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