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Property trends in 2018

Majority of shoebox apartment investors profited: Knight Frank
About 88.4 percent of resale transactions involving shoebox apartments, units smaller than 50 sq m (approx. 538.2 sq ft)...

View of private apartments in Singapore.

Here are some important trends that have been driving Singapore’s real estate market this year, which are expected to continue to shape the industry.

1) En bloc frenzy

The collective sales fever in Singapore is anticipated to continue in the next few months. According to Cushman & Wakefield Singapore’s research head Christine Li, 18 existing residential projects worth a total of $6.34 billion have been purchased by real estate developers via this method as of 15 November.

This is already the highest figure in a decade, but the overall tally for 2017 is expected to rise even further as more en bloc tenders have just been launched. These include Pearlbank Apartments, which is selling for $728 million, as well as Parkway Mansion ($138 million), Riviera Point ($75 million) and Derby Court ($62 million).

2) Price rebound

Aside from government statistics revealing that home prices across the city-state are indeed recovering, the PropertyGuru Property Index shows that asking prices of over 200,000 homes listed on the website have been rising since bottoming out in the first quarter.

In Q3 2017, the index rose 3.2 percent quarter-on-quarter and 1.4 percent on an annual basis to hit 97.1. This reflects growing optimism that developers and homeowners could sell their units at higher prices.

3) PropTech revolution

Property developers here are leveraging on new technology not only to expedite construction, but also to connect end-users across different projects. Another aim is to transform their developments into sought-after destinations for visitors.

For instance, developer M+S recently launched MySphere, the first mobile app here that links businesses, residents and visitors across its two integrated projects – Marina One in Marina Bay and DUO in Bugis.

Based on a recent JLL report, Asia Pacific’s PropTech scene is outperforming Europe and the US. In fact, 179 start-ups in the region have accounted for 60 percent of global financing to this sector after raising a total of US$4.8 billion since 2013.

 

The PropertyGuru News & Views

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