49% of S’poreans aspire to buy property in near future

Property affordability sentiment is still subdued in Singapore.

Nearly five in 10 Singaporeans intend to purchase a residential property in the near future, according to PropertyGuru’s Regional Consumer Sentiment Survey for H1 2017.

Although the home purchase sentiment in the city-state is higher than Thailand’s 43 percent, it is lower than Malaysia and Indonesia with 52 percent and 60 percent respectively.

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Despite the positive purchase intent, property seekers continue to worry over prices, with the property affordability sentiment here remaining at 29 from the previous survey in H2 2016. It was also unchanged in Thailand (34) and Indonesia (52), while Malaysia posted a slight increase to 38.

“In Singapore, we see that intent to purchase homes remain strong, but consumers continue to express concern on their ability to afford homes. Even as the Singapore real estate market looks to recover in 2018, concerns with affordability are likely to continue to hobble the absorption of supply,” said PropertyGuru Group’s CEO Hari V Krishnan.

Meanwhile, the study revealed that people from Singapore are open to both new and resale houses, while those from the three other Southeast Asian markets have a penchant for new units. In terms of key considerations, the respondents named location and the area’s security among the top factors influencing their purchase decision.

PropertyGuru’s latest survey involved more than 3,100 respondents across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg