Wealthy Chinese in Singapore for Lunar New Year may spend the holiday buying luxury real estate

Inquiries before the holiday period typically increase at least 15 per cent, and that demand has intensified over the past two years

Sales to Chinese buyers of flats S$5 million (US$3.7 million) or more doubled in the third quarter of 2019 from the same period of 2018

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China visitors inspect a model of a public housing estate to be launched in Singapore. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:30am, 24 Jan 2020Updated: 2:29pm, 17 Feb 2020

Lunar New Year is the most important festival in the Chinese calendar. But instead of traditional reunion dinners, some families have another ritual: luxury apartment shopping in Singapore.

With the political unrest in Hong Kong showing no signs of stopping, Chinese buyers are zeroing in on Asia’s other major financial centre, doubling sales of units at the top end of the market. Rich foreigners are largely undeterred by the higher taxes that are now levied on them.

Inquiries in the lead up to Lunar New Year typically jump at least 15 per cent, three property agents. Demand has intensified over the past two years with most people wanting to buy units as an investment rather than a principal place to live.

“Wealthy mainland Chinese are seeking a way to safely diversify and guard a portion of their wealth in offshore assets,” said Georg Chmiel, executive chairman of China-based property portal Juwai.com.

Chinese nationals are set to top Singapore’s list of foreign buyers in seven out of the past 10 years, according to List Sotheby’s International Realty analysis of government data. In the early years of the last decade, they bought homes to resettle in the city state. But since 2017, an increasing number are purchasing flats solely to park their wealth and aren’t keen on renting them out either, agents say.

Earlier this month, Clarence Foo, a Singapore-based property agent at APAC Realty unit ERA, sold one property to such a buyer. The Chinese couple in their 50s run their own financial business and were in town for three days to apartment hunt.

After viewing four units in the central business district, they settled on a S$3 million (US$2.2 million) three bedder at the upscale Marina One Residences, a 10-minute walk from the iconic Marina Bay Sands casino, hotel and entertainment complex.

“They just wanted a place close to the hotel because they believe property prices will appreciate quickly since it’s near a landmark location and that area is slated for further redevelopment,” Foo said.