After three years of declining prices, the property market in Singapore is on the road to recovery, and the long-awaited turnaround has seen estate agent numbers rise.
Private residential prices went up by 0.7% in the last quarter of 2017, with a 1% rise overall for the year compared to 2016’s 3.1% decline.
Analysts’ price growth predictions for this year range from 3% to a whopping 15%. The majority of experts are expecting resales to drive the total number of transactions higher in 2018 than 2017, while new home sales are expected to maintain 2017’s level.
However, with the government’s cooling measures still in situ, the Singapore market is unlikely to rise too quickly.
“Unlike previous recoveries, the measures act as a retardant to the momentum of the current recovery,” said Jones Lang LaSalle’s national director of research and consultancy, Ong Teck Hui. “So, we are unlikely to see prices spiking as in previous recoveries, such as the 38.2% surge in prices between mid-2009 and mid-2010.”
Holding the market steady
As in many other countries, Singapore’s property market tends to operate in cycles, and experts predict that this upturn is now different. The length of the upcycle, however, will depend on how quickly prices rise.
“If we see a price increase of about 5%, the upcycle will have some legs past 2020. But, if prices spike up 17% a year, the upcycle will probably taper off by 2019,” said Savills’ Singapore senior director Alan Cheong.
Estate agents obviously believe that the upcycle is here to stay however, with 174 more being registered at the beginning of 2018 compared to this time last year.
The Council of Estate Agents (CEA) director of policy and licensing Chia I-Ling said that the increase could be attributed to a “positive outlook on the real estate market”.
