The Appeal of Property in Singapore is Rising

The economy in Singapore is in a very healthy position at the moment with data relating to 2007’s first quarter performance having just been released.  The data highlights that the property and construction sectors of the economy helped significantly in contributing to a far better than expected 7.2% rise in GDP between January and March 2007.

Looking ahead, a great deal is being done to further promote the attraction of property in Singapore as an investment commodity to the international marketplace - which bodes exceptionally well for at least the short term prospects of the economy.  The appeal of property in Singapore is rising and in this article we explain why.

In a recent article we discussed whether 2007 would be a good year to enter the investment property market in Singapore, and in it we discussed all the positive factors in the city-state’s favour but mentioned that its economy is very vulnerable to external shocks such as a weakening of the US economy upon which a large percentage of the Singaporean economy is reliant for manufacturing exports for example. 

However, the latest statistics relating to GDP growth and economic expansion in Singapore for the first quarter of this year suggest that the construction industry alone could be shielding the economy from some of the harsher aspects resulting from a slow down in the American economy. 

Naturally this only serves to intensify the appeal of investing in property in Singapore at the present time.

Despite this positive point one shouldn’t underestimate the vulnerability that the Singaporean economy still has to a slow down in manufacturing though.  The Prime Minister of Singapore is certainly aware of the requirement to diversify the economy away from its dependence on wealth from manufacturing and exporting, as a result he has already cut corporate taxes and put things in place for the promotion of Singapore to international financial services companies which is having a positive effect on the number of companies and the amount of funds flowing into Singapore. 

Now together with Singapore’s city planners at the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the government is working directly to make Singapore a physically more attractive and appealing place to live, holiday, work and do business and this is expected to have a dramatically positive effect on property prices.

Apart from ground having now been broken for the creation of two mega gaming resorts in Singapore and the fact that planners have granted developers permission to tear down and redevelop ugly older high rise properties in Singapore and replace them with state of the art, stunning architectural masterpieces, the Chief Executive of the Urban Redevelopment Agency has visions of making Singapore into a city within a garden and of maximising the island’s natural water resources to further enhance and bring value to the city.

Specifically both the Prime Minister and the Urban Redevelopment Agency want to continue to attract foreign investment into property in Singapore.  At the recent Cityscape Asia real estate exhibition the Prime Minister’s representative Mah Bow Tan stated categorically his government’s ongoing commitment to ‘furthering its efforts to make Singapore more vibrant and exciting to attract even more overseas real estate investors’ and so far all efforts are paying off.

The office market in Singapore has the lowest vacancy levels in six years, retail demand is at its highest peak since 1993, residential real estate is selling out off plan with at least a quarter of all units sold off plan last year having been sold to international buyers, direct foreign investment commitment in Singaporean real estate topped 5.4 billion Singapore dollars in 2006 and now housing prices have increased by an incredible 4.6% in the first quarter of 2007 alone – the sharpest quarterly increase in seven years!

Clearly the property market in Singapore is an incredibly exciting place to be right now, and all the fundamentals are looking favourable for at least short term continued price expansion and demand across all the main sectors.

Special Reports: Property News for Singapore

Singapore Property Buyer Guide
Foreign buyers are subject to a number of restrictions when it comes to buying investment property in Singapore

Singapore Property Investment Potential
Residential, retail and commercial property opportunities abound in Singapore for the property investor seeking medium to long term profits

Singapore Real Estate Investor’s Introduction
Fiscal stimulus in Singapore is proving positive for the real estate investor seeking growth and yield on luxury end property