Friday, September 15, 2006
[RealEdge] TodayOnline : More foreigners owning land here
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| More foreigners owning land here Twice as many foreigners bought landed property in the first half of this year compared to last year Friday ? September 15, 2006 Tor Ching Li chingli@newstoday. As the Government embarks on its drive to attract more new immigrants, the signs look promising as an increased number of foreigners are already buying houses here to make Singapore their home. Foreigners can apply to buy one landed property in Singapore for owner occupation, subject to approval from the Ministry of Law's Land Dealings Unit before purchase. In a five-year record surge, 119 Permanent Residents and foreigners purchased landed property in Singapore in the first half of this year, with 77 purchases in the second quarter alone. Most of the 77 purchases in Q2 were made in District 10, 11 and 21 ? or the Bukit Timah and Upper Bukit Timah area. The half-year figure is twice the 60 transactions made in the first half of last year, and outstrips the total number of landed properties purchased for the whole of 2004 and 2003, which were 101 and 117 plots respectively. Last year saw 151 landed properties being purchased by foreigners, with 47 purchases being the highest number of transactions in any quarter. Property agents say that this marked increase in landed property purchases indicates strong confidence in Singapore's prospects as a place to live, work and invest ? and they expect this trend to continue for the rest of the year, at least. "These figures are in line with Singapore becoming a more global city, with more foreigners choosing to settle down after working for a few years here and finding Singapore to be a safe and secure environment to raise their family," said Mrs Ong Choon Fah, executive director of DTZ Debenham Tie Leung. A Singapore Land Authority (SLA) spokesperson said that the Residential Property Act, which imposes restrictions on foreign ownership of certain private residential property in Singapore, helps to attract foreign talent by allowing Permanent Residents who make an economic contribution to Singapore to purchase such properties for their occupation. At the same time, this guards against speculation by foreigners, and ensures that Singaporeans are able to own these properties at affordable prices. Requests to buy landed property are granted based on three criteria, the main one being whether the foreigner is a Permanent Resident. On top of that, his economic contribution to Singapore is also assessed based on his academic, professional and other qualifications and his economic contribution in terms of skills or investments brought into Singapore. Even though Permanent Residency is a stated pre-requisite, foreigners with PR status can still apply. The SLA declined to disclose if any foreigners without PR status have been granted the permission to do so, and available data also does not break down the Permanent Residents from those who are not PRs. Industry sources, however, say some applications by foreigners do get turned down if the applicant's economic contributions do not warrant owning a piece of Singapore land. Sentosa Cove in District 4 remains the only landed residential development where foreigners can buy a plot of land to stay ? without being restricted by the Permanent Residency clause, even though they still have to obtain approval from the Law Minister ? since some restrictions were lifted in 2004. This is in line with the vision for Sentosa Cove to become an world-class integrated waterfront development with exclusive homes, with international appeal, said the SLA. Figures from DTZ indicate that six foreigners, including Permanent Residents, purchased landed property in Sentosa Cove in Q2. Four of these were Indonesians, one was American and with the remaining nationality unknown. In the last auction for the prized address on Aug 25, four parcels of land were bought by foreigners, hailing from Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Myanmar. Overall, the number of private homes ? including apartments and condominiums ? bought by foreigners in Q2 this year has also increased by 35 per cent to reach 1,152. Unlike those foreigners who purchased landed property, most of these units are for investment and speculation purposes, say analysts. This is because there is no restriction on how many condominium units a foreigner without PR status can buy. DTZ's Mrs Ong pointed to the increased purchases as an indication of a bullish view on Singapore property. "Foreigners won't buy property if they expect the land price to fall. They would rather rent," she said. Agreeing, Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, also credited the expected benefits that the integrated resorts will have for Singapore's economy over the next five years. "Given the limited supply of land in Singapore, landed property would probably be a good store value of investment for foreigners, especially in the prime areas," said Mr Mak. "Some Asian buyers also want an address in such areas for their children to go to good schools. Overall, I think this trend is likely to continue for the rest of the year. I don't see anything negative likely to terminate this optimism." | |
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// posted by Shajahan @ 10:33 AM 