At any rate, prices of Singapore residential property are not high. Credit Suisse, in an update on June 5, pointed out that Singapore is at the bottom of its residential property clock (see chart 1). “Beyond the next 12 months, we expect Vietnam and Singapore to lead the recovery on strong underlying demand and supportive policies, Malaysia to find its bottom after seven years of contraction, and downside risks to Thailand and Philippines,” says Credit Suisse. One of the triggers for this support, according to Credit Suisse, is pent-up demand. Mobility data suggests a progressive recovery in activity levels could result in pent-up demand post-lockdowns.
SINGAPORE (June 12): The Singapore residential property market is probably a lot more resilient during Covid-19 than it was either during the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC), SARS or the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Despite the “circuit breaker” measures, some developers have been moving units through digital viewings of showflats.
In a recent briefing, analyst Vijay Natarajan of RHB Securities said the Singapore residential market to be well cushioned and expects a price correction rather than a collapse. “We expect property prices to fall by 5–10%. We see developers lowering prices, giving ‘soft’ discounts but no fire sales,” says Natarajan, adding that he expects transactions to fall by 30–40% because of Covid.
