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Foreigners Seen Among Most Affected by Singapore Property Curbs

Foreigners Seen Among Most Affected by Singapore Property Curbs

New cooling measures introduced by Singapore on Thursday to prevent home buyers from over-leveraging may slow purchases by permanent residents and expatriates the most, according to a statement released by industry watcher OrangeTee & Tie.

The number of condominiums purchased by Singapore permanent residents has increased by 55.3% this year, the most among all categories, with foreign purchases up by 45%.

As vaccinated travel lane arrangements and borders reopen further, more permanent residents and foreigners are expected to return and create higher demand. The increase in stamp duties for second-home buyers and foreigners purchasing private property is expected to slow demand from this segment, said Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analytics at the company.

Foreigners Seen Among Most Affected by Singapore Property Curbs

While investors, rather than owner-occupiers, are seen as taking the biggest hit from the measures, the industry watcher has revised its price projections for overall Singapore private property down from 6% to 9% growth in 2022 to 0% to 3%.

Number of non-landed homes sold by residential status

    
Nationality by Residential Status2018201920202021*2021 vs 2020
Foreigner (NPR)12161000737106945.0%
Singapore Permanent Residents (PR)323425982818437555.3%
Singaporean1480513008146772211350.7%
Company88355946-22.0%
N.A0251-80.0%
Total1934316643182962760450.9%

Source: Urban Redevelopment Authority, OrangeTee & Tie Research & Analytics

Note: 2021 data for condominium sales doesn’t include all of December.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.