UBS avoiding Singapore, HK housing markets
The bank feels that Singapore’s housing market is too heavily regulated.
Multinational bank UBS is avoiding the housing markets of Singapore and Hong Kong as there is a tendency for the governments of these cities to impose property cooling measures to control rising prices, reported Bloomberg.
“We have no exposure in the Singapore residential market and we are very comfortable not having any exposure. Historically its been very exposed to government policy intervention and that continues,” said Graham Mackie, real estate head for Asia Pacific at UBS Asset Management.
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Nevertheless, UBS is interested in investing in Singapore’s business parks and light industrial projects, as government policies are more favourable to these segments given the authorities’ goal of creating a more service-oriented economy.
Likewise, the financial institution is bullish on Hong Kong commercial real estate like offices and retail space, but it currently doesn’t want to bet its money on the city’s residential sector due to “severe” property curbs.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
