Owner-occupiers to fuel private housing market in 2024, says expert

Singapore real estate is still seen as a resilient investment.

Buyers purchasing homes for their own use will likely drive private home sales next year in the face of a prolonged challenging environment, PropertyGuru said in a report.

In its latest property market outlook, it said the string of cooling measures and the high interest rate environment have dampened sales activity in the private residential property market this year, resulting in softer price increases.

PropertyGuru expects private home sales activity to dip further and housing prices to remain steady next year as the economic landscape will likely remain challenging due to escalating geopolitical risks globally, sticky inflation and high borrowing costs.

It said owner-occupiers are likely to dominate the private housing market next year while there are still some rich investors who will continue beefing up their portfolios.

“Singapore's real estate is traditionally viewed as a resilient investment. Given this perspective, the prevailing uncertainty could, in fact, inspire more individuals to engage in the property market, provided their financial positions permit,” said Tan Tee Khoon, country manager for Singapore at PropertyGuru.

“There is also a belief that even if property prices moderate in the short term, the pricing rebound could be much faster and higher when economic conditions improve,” Tan said.

For the next six months, it expects demand to be subdued and prices elevated with muted growth rate.

Despite the dim outlook, PropertyGuru does not see demand and prices contracting in the private housing market next year, “barring unforeseen black swan events.”

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