Singapore's Property Market Robust During Pandemic

It is time to buy a home in Singapore as its government introduces financial help packages to cushion the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic - including low interest rates for homebuyers.

This resulted in more than 1,300 housing units being sold in September alone - the highest in more than two years, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority released Thursday.

Around 10,100 housing units were sold in 2019 - with the highest number of sold units at 1,147 in one month.

The brisk real estate market suggests the country has begun to overcome the economic recession it felt during the lockdowns owing to COVID-19 as its government rolled out stimulus packages worth more than $73 billion.

The high number of houses being sold is also likely a result of wealthy residents seeking to increase their assets.

"They may feel that it's a good time to enter the market since prices will likely rise after the pandemic and Singapore's economy is positioned for a gradual recovery," Bloomberg News quoted Christine Sun, director of research and consultancy at Orange Tee & Tie, as saying.

The trend was backed by real estate analysts who said the boom may result in increases in prices of as much as 1.5% when the pandemic eases - contrary to a previous outlook estimating a downward trend for housing unit prices of as much as 6%.

Singapore's economy grew 0.7% only in 2019 - the most sluggish in a decade.

Lee Sze Teck, Huttons Asia Pte. Ltd. director for research, forecast in 2019 that at least 50 housing projects would be launched and 11,000 units released for sale this year.