Singapore Property Market Unsustainable

[raptor_from_vietnam]

Singapore property market has been on a bullish run for awhile. Some HDB flats with less than 80 years of lease now may go for more than 1 million. New condos may go for even 3 million, and they are not that spacious...I myself think that this trend cannot be sustainable. So far, the property market here has risen for 2 reasons: purchases from foreigners (Mainlanders) and purchases from high-income locals. The Mainlanders are buying way less now after the absd hike. The recent run up has been largely fueled by highly paid locals. But the thing is: Singapore's workforce has been paid way higher than the rest of the region (Asia, not just SEA) largely because of their superior quality. I dont see that edge will continue for long. People in the neighbouring countries now are getting better educated, and hungrier. AI will also made the premium human capital less valuable. I have seen some companies start slashing their headcount here and move some to KL. I dont think these are isolated incidents. So if the people here stop getting paid the premium, the property prices cannot be sustained.

Any thoughts?

[abbby]

Totally agree, it's making the future generations being less able to afford. I don't see it as a good thing at all. This trend is very worrying.

A lot of HDB BTO owners sell with a good profit and buy new launches, and new launches are the ones making the prices so out of reach. When there's demand, developers can call their prices. Many sell out like hot cakes.

I don't think the additional 1 year of SSD is going to stop people from flipping. They could have implemented 5 years like HDB MOP.

[malcontent]

SSD for x years only doesn’t seem like a big deal to me, as long as it eventually tapers off to zero. Does this really impact genuine home buyers much?

[malcontent]

As far as market direction is concerned, I’ve been monitoring the situation since 1996 when I arrived on these shores… if you compare with other major global cities, Singapore property price growth has significantly lagged global peers, which implies that property prices have been kept artificially low (which is as expected with the cooling measures).

I know this can seem hard to believe considering how high the prices already are, but crazy high prices have been the norm, and will continue to be the norm. There would have to be a deep and severe crisis (beyond what we have seen in recent decades) to see any meaningful decline IMO.

Even if demand declines, the supply side (land scarcity and developer constraints) in Singapore will always underpin high prices.

[the observer]

Gotta make a punt on several factors

1. Good jobs?
2. Population growth?
3. Johor - Sg connectivity?

Look at HK with regards to the 3 factors.
Point 3 wud be shenzhen-HK connectivity

Look at NZ with regards to the 2 factors.

Both are suffering declines.

I have no crystal ball. Unfortunately.

[abbby]

I just think it's a little too late ( SSD, ABSD etc) as prices of properties have already doubled or tripled its prices.

[raptor_from_vietnam]

The thing is that high prices may hurt the labor market I believe. I have started seeing jobs moving from Singapore to KL recently, across different sectors, because the salary levels in SG are way too high, much higher than even North Eastern economies like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, let alone Southeast Asia. The high salary expectations, in turn, are the result of high cost of living in Singapore, of which residential cost is a big factor.

[PNGMK]

The thing is that high prices may hurt the labor market I believe. I have started seeing jobs moving from Singapore to KL recently, across different sectors, because the salary levels in SG are way too high, much higher than even North Eastern economies like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, let alone Southeast Asia. The high salary expectations, in turn, are the result of high cost of living in Singapore, of which residential cost is a big factor.

I've thought about hiring. My primary concern has been where would my employee live?