ST : China buyers prefer properties under $1m‏

Nov 5, 2009

China buyers prefer properties under $1m

HOME buyers from China prefer properties under $1 million and tend to favour apartments near MRT stations as they generally do not own cars here.

Many are permanent residents and work here, possibly in areas such as Jurong, Bedok and Kallang.

That is the typical profile of a buyer from China, say agents The Straits Times spoke to.

A total of 707 buyers from China, of whom 432 were PRs, bought homes in the first nine months of the year.

As with buyers from Malaysia and India, PRs from China far outnumber those who are non-PRs, data from Savills Singapore showed.

'Lately, for mass market products, we are seeing more Chinese buyers than Indian buyers,' said PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail Gafoor.

Agents said a large group of China buyers are Singapore PRs who already have families or are about to settle down here and are buying properties for their own use.

A small group of investors are young couples in their 30s to 40s who run their own businesses back home, said mortgage consultant Ally Yang of her clients.

There is also a group of 'flamboyant high net worth types who has at least several millions to burn' looking to buy, possibly for investment, said a property agent who deals mainly with new projects.

A Frasers Centrepoint spokesman said a lot more China buyers had snapped up units at its Caspian project next to Lakeside MRT station, launched in February, than earlier projects.

Those China buyers were residing or working in the area, she said.

Savills said that most of the buying activity from China nationals this year was concentrated in Jurong West and Bedok, followed by Kallang.

'Those who want to invest like Singapore because the rental returns are better and they can look forward to capital appreciation. They would have a friend or relative here,' said Ms Yang, a PR from China. 'They are happy with leasehold properties here because in China, the maximum lease is only 70 years.'

JOYCE TEO