Singaporeans capitalize on Recession to Buy Properties

Undeterred by the economic slump and rising unemployment, thousands of locals are snapping up property in Singapore and taking a share of the market not seen in a decade as travel curbs thwart foreign investors. This broad-based buying spree, which has pushed prices and sales to multi-year highs, has some parallels with a housing market boom seen in late 2009 as Singapore emerged from the global financial crisis. That forced the government to initiate several rounds of cooling measures to cap surging prices. The government is expecting the Singapore economy to shrink 5-7% this year, eclipsing a record 2.2% contraction in 1998 and marking the deepest recession since independence in 1965. Singaporeans bought nearly 81% of all private apartments sold in the third quarter, the highest proportion since early 2009, according to an analysis by property agency OrangeTee and Tie. Despite the turmoil of 2020, prices of private homes in Singapore fell only in the first quarter and have risen since. By comparison, prices dropped for four consecutive quarters between the middle of 2008 and 2009, during the global financial crisis. Singapore property has long attracted the super-rich from its less developed Southeast Asian neighbours as well as multi-millionaires from China. Political uncertainty in rival Hong Kong has also helped to galvanise that appeal, analysts say, even if some foreign purchases have been put on hold due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.