A study by global real estate services firm JLL found that improved sentiment and transaction volume, including sales to foreign buyers, made 2016 a positive year for Singapore‘s private residential property market, with demand expected to continue into 2017.

Foreign buyers from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United States drove purchase volumes in the first nine months of 2016, with an 11.7% compared to the same period last year. The buyers excluded permanent residents.

The Chinese were the most active, accounting for 29.4% of all foreign purchases from January to September 2016, overtaking the Indonesians who accounted for 14.6% of all foreign purchases. There were 57 transactions involving buyers from the US in the first three quarters of 2016, taking fourth spot and accounting for 7.3% of foreigner purchases. However, Indonesians were found to have higher budgets than the Chinese, with most deals falling within S$3 million, specifically for properties above S$1,400 per sq ft and located in the Core Central Region (CCR).

The Chinese and Malaysians are more budget conscious, as a higher proportion of the properties they picked up were priced below S$1.5 million and within the S$750 to S$1,700 per sq ft range. The study also reported that Chinese buyers were more active in the Outside Central Region market (OCR) while Malaysians preferred the CCR market.

“Singapore is well-placed to tap on the foreign demand for real estate driven by the growth in local and regional wealth,” said Mr Ong Teck Hui, national director of research and consultancy at JLL Singapore. “The deterrent effects of the cooling measures are subsiding as the market gradually accepts them as the new norm,” he said.