Purchases of Singapore private homes by foreign buyers, including the Chinese, have plunged to the lowest since the global financial crisis.
Discouraged by the high taxes imposed, foreigners including the Chinese have cut their purchases of Singapore private homes, leaving the market to depend on local buyers.
According to data compiled by consultancy DTZ, foreigners (including permanent residents) bought 499 homes in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The number accounted for about 16 per cent of total transactions, as compared to the more than 30 per cent in the third quarter of 2011 – just before an additional stamp duty was imposed to cool the market.
The Chinese, among the biggest foreign purchasers of Singapore private homes, bought just 151 units from October to December 2015. This was a plunge of nearly 40 per cent from a year earlier.
“Chinese money is being attracted by Australia and the U.K.,” said Mr Alan Cheong, senior director of research and consultancy at Savills Singapore.
He added that stamp duties needed to be tweaked to a level that attracts Chinese funds, without generating an overwhelming interest.
“If we continue to sit by with all these measures, we are just going to miss the boat,” he explained.
Read Reuters for the full report.
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