Chinese nationals have again emerged as the top non-Singaporean buyers of private homes in the second quarter, acquiring 640 homes in Q2, up 26 percent from 527 units in Q1 2011.
According to a new report from DTZ, the proportion of acquisitions made by non-Singaporeans in the second quarter was similar to the 16 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
“In absolute terms, foreign purchases were 1,327 in Q2 2011, below the record high of 1,741 foreign purchases in Q2 2007. With the exception of one landed home in Sentosa Cove, the rest of the transactions by foreigners were for non-landed homes,” it said.
The report also noted that buyers from other Asian countries bought more units than in the previous quarter.
Malaysians – the second-biggest group of non-Singaporean buyers – bought 496 homes, 66 more units in the second quarter as compared with the 430 homes recorded earlier this year.
Private residential purchases by Indonesians also moved up from 320 to 408 units in the second quarter.
Despite making up a mere 1.6 per cent of non-Singaporean buyers, Vietnamese more than doubled their property deals this quarter, from 17 to 40 units.
Another small but growing market segment is landed properties bought by PRs, which came in at 33 homes, up from 28 last quarter.
But while foreigners and PRs have been more active, the report found that Singaporeans still easily dominate buying, making up 68 per cent of sales.
The other 2 per cent of private home sales were made by companies.