The ViewWhy Singapore’s property slowdown is the envy of the rest of Asia

Singapore is at the sharp end of the energy crisis. Imported natural gas accounts for an estimated 95 per cent of the city state’s electricity generation. According to Nomura, Singapore is the fourth most vulnerable Asian economy to the energy shock emanating from the war in Iran, based on a set of criteria that includes the share of fossil fuels in energy consumption and the proportion of energy imports from the Gulf.

Last month, Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said the unprecedented disruption to energy flows was, “in a sense, an Asian crisis”. On April 7, the government announced a package of measures worth S$1 billion (US$783.7 million) to help support the economy, including an increase in a cost-of-living payment for eligible Singaporeans and a one-off payment to taxi drivers to help offset the rise in fuel costs.

Yet a cursory glance at the city state’s housing market shows that one of Asia’s best-performing residential real estate sectors continues to show remarkable resilience. Prices for private properties and second-hand flats built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), Singapore’s public housing authority, rose in annualised terms in the first quarter of this year.

This follows five consecutive quarters of deceleration in which prices rose at a slower pace or did not increase at all. Having increased at a quarterly clip of 2-3 per cent in 2024, the slowdown in price growth “could mark a notable milestone” in which “the market is adjusting towards a more sustainable phase”, PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying said.

Not so fast. “Milestone” is perhaps too strong a word to describe the moderation in growth in home values in the HDB resale market, not least since prices are still rising on a quarterly basis in many areas, especially at the top end of the market.