Chinese have overtaken Malaysians as the second-largest overseas buyers in Singapore's residential market, despite the Singaporean government introducing measures aimed at cooling down the market.
In the first quarter of this year, said international property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, Chinese and Malaysian buyers bought more than 50 per cent of the flats sold in Singapore's prime residential areas.
Indonesian buyers accounted for 24 per cent of the sales, Chinese buyers for 16 per cent, and Malaysians for 14 per cent, it said.
But Chinese made up the largest proportion of those buyers who spent S$5 million (HK$30.9 million) or more on residential property in central and prime markets and in the first quarter 31 per cent of the 54 homes worth S$5 million or more were sold to Chinese buyers.
'The surge in Chinese buyers in Singapore coincided with the policy tightening in China. We expect the number of Chinese buyers to continue at a healthy level as seen in previous quarters, as the fiscal and monetary policy in China remains conducive to overseas investment by the wealthier Chinese,' said Dr Chua Yang Liang, head of research and consultancy at Jones Lang LaSalle's Singapore office.
Since Beijing introduced limits on home purchases, Chinese who were barred from buying third properties at home have had to go to overseas markets to expand their property investment portfolios.