SINGAPORE: A new report from Bloomberg Intelligence says that property prices are set to rise in the coming year in Australia as well as a number of Asian countries, including Singapore.
The report says that prices are likely to rise the most in Hong Kong, followed by Australia and Singapore.
In Hong Kong, industry experts, including Bloomberg Intelligence Equity Research Analyst Ken Foong, say they could go up by as much as 10 per cent.
This would reverse the decline in property prices Hong Kong has seen in the past years.
In Australia, home prices are expected to increase by between 7 and 8 per cent, while in Singapore, they’re expected to go up by 3 per cent.
Japan is expected to see the smallest increase among the four areas, with home prices likely to rise by 2 per cent.
Bloomberg Intelligence noted that with the fall of interest rates in Singapore, home prices are expected to rise. The report added that the demand for housing is expected to continue to be robust as households remain economically stable and more HDB homeowners make a switch to private homes.
Its analysts admitted, however, that unsold inventory, an increase in property launches, macroeconomic uncertainty, and buyers’ selectivity could limit further growth.
As for Hong Kong, after reaching a high in 2019, its residential prices have gone down by nearly 30 per cent. However, the situation is changing because of supportive economic policies as well as interest rate cuts.
Mortgage rules have also eased recently and smaller down payments are now permitted, which should allow for more homebuyers to enter the market.
Singapore’s current housing situation
The city-state has one of the highest home ownership rates around the globe — 89.7 per cent in 2023, or nearly nine out of 10.
At present, 77.8 per cent of residents in Singapore live in public housing (HDB flats). Meanwhile, 17.2 per cent live in private condominiums and 4.8 per cent live in landed properties.
The average price of an HDB flat is $597,297, or $582.04 per square foot (psf). For condominium units, the average price is $1,945,523, or $1,880.78 psf.
The average size of an HDB flat is 95.33 sq m — not much smaller than the average size of a condominium, which is 97.36 sq m.
Interestingly, a much-quoted DBS report said in 2018 that on average, new private homes in Singapore could cost as much as $2,900 psf by 2030. /TISG
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