Covid pandemic that has wrecked havoc across the world has failed to dent Singapore's status as a global wealth hub with well-off individuals choosing to invest their wealth here. Singapore has seen more private banks like UBS, Citi and HSBC expanding their wealth businesses despite the Covid-19 crisis as large numbers of family offices and wealth management firms are lured to this sunny island by its attractive fundamentals.
With Covid and political unrest seen in many countries, high-net-worth individuals are choosing to stay and even become residents in what is one of the safest countries in the world - Singapore.
Singapore is definitely still growing as a wealth hub due to its strong legal system and sophisticated private banking community with a light touch framework that assures the (high-net-worth) community of the safety of their investments, while encouraging ongoing innovation and strengthening Singapore's growing reputation as a wealth-tech hub.
Singapore may have leapfrogged many advanced cities, including Hong Kong, to be one of the most popular investment destinations for the rich and famous. Over the past decade, efforts to build the country's economic infrastructure and financial hub have raised its global profile and allure to wealthy investors.
The rising incomes of many locals have raised their aspirations to own luxury properties. Affluent families and wealthy millennials are moving up the ladder from their first purchase to owning premium homes. Even the middle income group among Singaporeans is snagging a slice of the pie by purchasing smaller luxury units.
Real estate advisor Kiwi Lim from Huttons Asia believe that the wealthy are attracted to Singapore's unique combination of factors like low crime rates, multi-racial environment with the ability of its people to communicate fluently to both Chinese & English speaking nationalities, Singapore's political stability, business friendliness, clear banking laws, very transparent land ownership and conveyancing procedures, legal transparency, convenience, very comprehensive infrastructure, etc as these combined factors reduce the downside risks to part their excess cash or for their investments in Singapore as compared to other major cities worldwide. Singapore is also a unique gateway for Asian & Western countries to trade in a comfortable organised business friendly manner. Such factors greatly enhanced Singapore's property values allowing investors to enjoy attractive capital appreciation in the long run.
At the luxury end, well-heeled buyers snapped up 272 luxury condominium units that cost over $5 million in the first half of this year, the highest half-year transactions since the first half of 2014. Out of these condominium units, about 70 were super luxury homes above $10 million - one of them was a 611 sq m sprawling luxury apartment at Les Maisons Nassim that was sold for $39 million in May 2021.
On a per square foot (psf) basis, the most expensive luxury condo transaction was a 282 sqm resale condo unit at Eden in Draycott Park, which changed hands for $6,024 psf in March.
Top-selling new luxury condominiums include Midtown Modern, Irwell Hill Residences, Leedon Green, Fourth Avenue Residences, Hyll on Holland, The Avenir, Royalgreen, Kopar At Newton and The M. In the resale condo market, D'Leedon, 8 Saint Thomas, Wallich Residences and Marina One Residences were among the most popular resale projects in the CCR.