By Romesh Navaratnarajah: The additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) is not stopping ultra-rich foreigners from snapping up luxury homes in the country.
Many Indonesian billionaires are still keen on properties in Singapore, lured by what they see are accommodating regulations for foreign buyers.
According to Hasan Pamudji, Senior Research Manager at Knight Frank Indonesia, around 60 percent of Indonesians who made overseas purchases chose Singapore and Australia.
Over the last 10 years, acquisitions by Indonesian buyers in Singapore have shot up by four times, from 430 units in 2000 to 1,755 in 2011, driven by Singapore's favourable investment climate.
Other factors are the county's robust legal system, liveability, as well as rules regarding foreigners owning property, said Teguh Satria, President of the International Real Estate Federation for the Asia Pacific region.
He added that most Indonesian buyers made their purchases for investment while some bought a place for their children who are studying overseas.
More than half of the acquisitions involved properties that are priced over S$1.5 million to S$5 million, while 24.6 percent bought homes from S$1 million to S$1.5 million. Some 5.7 percent of them opted for homes worth over S$5 million. Related Stories:Tender for Pasir Ris residential site awarded to Elitist Development
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