When is a good time to enter Singapore Property Market

[JR8]

Wasn't there a bit of a downturn in the prоpertу market in 2008-2009?

I don't know. c2005>today probably marks a shift from speculation to passive accumulation. Once in a lifetime shift out of property and into blue-chips, for me. (Property was '10-20% down' and watch the outright values quadruple.) The content tortoise, knowing that given time he'll beat the hare. The ethos is who cares what the capital values are, if assets keep paying me x% a year? You could make a case that solid cashflow = good proposition. That's perhaps 5+% on stocks, 7+% on quality property. [5% on prime London, 10%+ out in the regions]

Right now I've just got my London home rented out, and a stock portfolio. Well, it keeps me out of trouble, though I'm damned tired of landlording and all the f*cking amazingly stupid stuff tenants seem capable of doing. The idea is... that place is where we'll return, at least for a while, once we're out of here. We'll see. Meanwhile... it's pays the silly rent here.

Not sure where you came up with the specific years for your pattern.
From the SG Prоpertу Price Index (PPI) trend, the best years to buy in the past 40 years were 1978-1979, 1986-1993, 1998, 2004-2006, and end of 2008-2009.
These were the years where the SG PPI was at the low edge of the upward trend channel.
The year 1995 is not included – instead there was a bubble in 1993-1996, so the eventual downturn came a few years later.

The years I quoted, were the years my employer and The City had pogroms.
I'm an expat, I'm not really interested in SGn property values.

However, the issue here is about рrоpertу.
The decision to buy рrоpertу is usually based on other factors (location, need, ideal home availability, etc.).
With such high prices involved, where the need to buy рrоpertу is not immediate, then it may make sense to either jump in or wait a little while based on market conditions in order to maximise what one can buy for one’s budget. People are no longer holding рrоpertу for a generation or more, so buying just before a known downturn does not make sense.

This 'known downturn'. When is the next one coming?

So, in answer to the original question, if they don't have an immediate need to buy рrоpertу, then it may be wise for them to wait until the 10% drop occurs.

'The 10% drop that we all know is coming right'? If we get real for a minute, basically all property is owned by the government. The government wants to stay in power, probably forever. Property is only ever going to go up here.
[That said, I really don't like the fake-market, and have no plans to ever invest in it].

[Wd40]

Yes, the worst case scenario for SG property is stagnation. The gahmen has put a lid on the prices so that it doesnt go up too much and then crash. If they had not acted, I think prices would have gone up another 30% and then fallen 10%. But now they are flat.

[livingontheedge]

Price correction in Singapore is imminent - I am a simple guy who follows simple logic - take a walk along some of the prime locations in Singapore and notice the number of empty units in condos/apartments (these are units that have been sold to foreign investors and left empty) - the income gap is drifting too far apart. But despite all that, Singapore's fundamentals are strong, migration and population growth is strong and sustainable, and of course thanks to its infrastructure we will continue to see capital flows from investors in India, China, Indonesia, etc. who keep their money here if not to invest.

I guess its two opposing forces that effects the prices. Similar to the 2008 crisis, there would be a significant price correction but any correction is almost immediately diffused and turned around within a short time frame.

As for the above - I would invest by mid next year - looking now already. Prices have somewhat corrected and there should be more correction underway but I do not expect price correction will be significant and/or low prices will be sustainable for too long like what we witnessed in the US.