Tue, Mar 22, 2011
SINGAPORE – 33 per cent of all resale homes sold last year were sold to foreigners, according to a Straits Times report today.
This is up from 18 per cent in 2004, the year permanent residents (PRs) were first allowed to buy executive condos (ECs).
Of the 321 ECs sold to foreigners last year, Indian nationals made up the biggest segment of buyers. According to Savills research and consultancy, since 2004, Indians have bought 296 ECs, followed by Malaysians with 276, then buyers from China with 222 units.
According to the report, this interest, together with the hot property market, is pushing the values up, with the average price of a resale executive condo unit hitting S$634 per sq ft (psf) in the first two months of the year. This is a 31 per cent increase on the previous peak price registered in the third quarter of 2008.
Executive condos may be sold in the resale market to Singaporeans and permanent residents after a five-year minimum occupation period, much like HDB flats. They may be sold to foreigners after ten years, when they become private property.
Foreigners are not allowed to buy HDB resale homes.
(Source: Asiaone.com)