Residential investments in Singapore for 2013 declined by around 37 percent year-on-year to S$6.4 billion, on the back of fewer transactions for Government Land Sales (GLS) sites and tepid activity in the collective sales market, said a report from DTZ.
Only two private residential GLS sites at Upper Serangoon View were sold in Q4 2013 at S$460.4 million, bringing overall investment activity in the residential sector to S$500.0 million, or the lowest quarterly level since Q2 2009.
Meanwhile, investment activities continue to be dominated by local investors, although foreign investments soared by more than 30 percent year-on-year in 2013 to reach S$4.1 billion.
The majority of foreign investors were from Asia, with Chinese investors tripling their total investment in Singaporean properties. Notably, some Chinese developers were active in GLS tenders for executive condominium (EC) and private residential sites.
Specifically, Chinese developers acquired several private residential sites: the two sites at Upper Serangoon View were awarded to Kingsford Development, a site at Tampines Avenue 10 was sold to MCC Land (Singapore), while two EC sites at Woodlands Avenue 5/Woodlands Avenue 6 and Anchorvale Crescent were won by Qingjian Realty (South Pacific) Group.
Going forward, market activity is expected to moderate this year due to a variety of factors, said Lee Lay Keng, DTZ’s Head of Singapore Research.
“While the near-term impact is not likely to be significant, the tapering of bond purchases by the US Federal Reserve could see investors seeking higher returns from their property investments in Singapore so property deals could take longer to be completed or investors could divert funds to other countries where they can get a higher return.”
“Residential investments are also likely to fall further given that collective sales continue to be difficult and there are fewer residential sites on the H1 2014 GLS programme,” she added.
Source : PropertyGuru – 2014 Jan 16
