SINGAPORE’S popularity as one of Asia’s top real estate investment destinations has slipped, according to a new survey of institutional investors by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The report put the Republic in fifth place in the latest rankings of Asia-Pacific cities with the best property investment prospects. It came in second the last time.
The top three cities, overtaking Singapore in the investment league table, are Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing respectively, with Seoul in fourth place.
Mr Choo Eng Beng, PwC’s assurance real estate leader, said the results came as no surprise in the light of the remarkable resilience of the Chinese economy.
And Mr Stephen Blank, senior research fellow of finance at the Urban Land Institute, said Singapore’s drop should be put into context, given that the difference between the third, fourth and fifth places was minor.
About 270 industry experts from across the region – including investors, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers and consultants – were questioned about their views on the outlook of the property sector for the survey.
Concern about an oversupply of property in Singapore over the next two years dented the city’s ranking among developers. Experts placed Singapore 11th, compared with seventh last year.
Respondents seemed most bullish about investment prospects for the residential property sector here, whereas other categories, such as retail and office, were placed in the ‘hold’ category.
Almost 37 per cent of those polled believed that it was time to buy residential, while 45 per cent favoured ‘hold’ positions.
This contrasts with the figures last year, when 11.6 per cent of respondents believed it was time to buy and 65.1 per cent urged investors to hold.
But the survey warned that because residential prices rose a record 15.9 per cent in the third quarter over those in the previous period, the ideal moment for buying ‘appears to have passed and most analysts are now concerned about prospects for the sector’.
Mr Choo said the overall sentiment of respondents was cautiously optimistic. ‘There continues to be confidence in terms of the strong fundamentals in Singapore,’ he added.
‘This shows that despite issues with oversupply in Singapore, we are still recognised as a property investment hub.
‘Investors, however, are watching carefully as there are concerns about the city’s development prospects across most asset classes. It would be prudent to tread cautiously going into 2010.’
Source : Straits Times – 9 Dec 2009
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