The 99-year leasehold bungalow market on Sentosa Cove is expected to see more activity, following a slowdown in July, media reports said.
This comes after authorities closed loopholes that saw some investors making proxy purchases in the names of family members who do not own properties here.
Moreover, the impact of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework has also trickled down to some buyers in the luxury residential enclave.
But deals are expected to pick up by the end of this year, driven by purchases from Singapore permanent residents (PRs).
“Their motivation for looking for a bungalow on (the) Cove is a house to live in, not for investment. Because they have a genuine reason to live in Singapore, they are able to justify paying the ABSD as part of their property cost,” noted Steve Tay, Associate Director at Newsman Realty.
In fact, viewings “started to pick up about one to two months ago. I believe we should see a few more deals before the year ends”, Tay said.
Some property agents revealed that owners at Sentosa Cove have lowered asking prices to factor in the ABSD. Nonetheless, asking prices for seafront properties or those facing a golf course still stand at around S$3,000 psf.
China’s ongoing Golden Week holiday also saw agents showing homes in the area to wealthy mainland Chinese, said Lionel Loo, Senior Sales Director at DTZ Resale.
Notably, Sentosa Cove is the only place in the country where foreigners who are not PRs can buy a landed home, subject to authorities’ approval.
“Hopefully, we’ll seal a few transactions soon,” said Loo, adding that the bungalow market in Sentosa Cove mirrors a similar pattern seen during the same period last year, but there was a rise in activity during the last few months of 2012 due to the introduction of QE3 in the US.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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