By the time of writing this article, the COVID–19 Global Pandemic has claimed 86,000 lives worldwide and infected roughly 1.3 million people around the world. While these numbers might not reflect what we would expect to be “pandemic level events” – the reaction from the global marketplace has been.
While being diligent in our approach to slowing down the spread of this virus – the aftermath of shutting down the global markets will most assuredly have a far greater impact on the livelihood of many people. This brings us to the question at hand – How is the Singapore Real Estate Marketing doing amidst this unprecedented crisis?
When the world is in lock down
Currently – the world is in lock down. Some countries still have open borders – yet the vast majority have shut down their major activities for the foreseeable future. Some estimations place the end of the pandemic at the end of July or early August – others see it coming to an end at the end of May.
Nonetheless – for the time being we can safely say that foreign investors won’t be coming to Singapore to make real estate purchases. This means that the current Singaporean Marketplace will be sustained by localized investment and perhaps some regional investment.
While there was a SARS pandemic in 2003 and the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 – the Covid-19 virus is quite volatile and unpredictable. This essentially froze most marketplaces around the world. So far – we haven’t seen a drop in real estate prices in Singapore. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be a drop in prices. Most real estate markets around the world will be affected by this pandemic.
What’s Singapore’s main concern?
While Singapore does have market appeal for western states like the United States – it’s the mainland Chinese market that has a significant market share within the Singapore Property Market. In fact, we could see a drop in property purchases from Chinese Nationalists in January and February of this year. It dropped from 144 units sold to Chinese passport holders in 2019 (during the same period) to 107. That is a 26% decrease.
However – considering that China was in the midst of a viral pandemic – those numbers are actually surprisingly high. Mainland China also believes that they can have the problem under control by the end of May 2020. This could mean that Chinese buyers return to their old real estate shopping habits – however, this is probably not going to happen.
Of course – the global economy would need to kick back into gear, which means that real estate purchases would be necessary – although it wouldn’t be as fast as before. We can assume that for most people – there will be a higher sense of conservative spending until the markets stabilize. When this will happen nobody knows for sure.
Nonetheless – we can expect Chinese buyers to continue to purchase property albeit at a slower rate than before.
Will there be a significant devaluation of property prices in Singapore?
We can speculate and analyze all of the data in the past – but the fact of the matter is that within our lifetimes we have never dealt with such a global event. In Asia – we’re seeing some significant response to the pandemic, however, other countries are not reacting in a similar fashion. This makes the conditions for how the viral will affect the world difficult to surmise.
This is why for now – we would not make any claims – and there is no evidence that developers are giving discounts or flash sales as of yet. Perhaps some developers might rethink their strategies in the wake of this pandemic – however, for now things are still virtually unchanged. The only significant difference is that you won’t be able to get “discounted deals” as easily. The market is definitely tighter than it was before and thus – there will still be an adjustment period prior to things leveling out again.
What about government assistance?
The government – in a response to the Covid-19 pandemic has granted Deferred Payments on loans for SME Loans up till December 31st.
Additionally – they have issued options to reduce the interests of the payments to mitigate the costs of the lockdown. This will help to ensure that current investments and projects can continue as planned. The biggest challenge for the Singapore government will be to kick-start the economy again – real estate being a significant sector within the Singaporean economy. We can expect some relief over the next few months.
Does this mean Real Estate Investment in Singapore is on hold?
As mentioned – there is actually still movement within the real estate market. Yes – things are slower, however since the global economy has somehow managed to remain somewhat stable after a month of lock-down – there are still properties being purchased. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it will remain like this. We know that the effects of this pandemic is yet to be determined.
We recommend talking to your Real Estate Agent in Singapore to provide you with more details about particular projects. There are many developers who are still continuing with their original estimates and projections with slight delays – however, the “trust” within the future of the Singapore Real Estate market is still quite stable as of the time of writing this article.
What does a Post Covid-19 World Look like?
Now we are entering into the world of speculation. Depending on who you choose to listen to – there are thousands of “what ifs” and “could haves” that are circulating the globe. This only shows us that nobody has a real idea of what’s going to happen – how could they?
Throughout most of our lives – we have endured pandemics, viral infections and so forth. However, this is the first time ever that the world completely shut down. Perhaps the Spanish flu of 1918 had similar effects – however, we are more connected than ever before.
If there is one thing that we can surmise from this entire pandemic is that the world economies are actually one big economy. We have international real estate markets in localized regions – and we bring in international investment to help stimulate local economies.
We can tell you how the world will be after the Covid-19 epidemic ceases to be a “factor” in our daily lives – but we can definitely say that the world will be different. Whether different better or different worse is till to be determined.
Here at Jimmy–Sum – we have a more optimistic way of looking at things. We believe that in the face of tragedy – humans have the greatest capacity for compassion and unity. While this is certainly very uncertain times for all of us – we continue to maintain faith in the people of the world.
Nonetheless – once the dust settles and this pandemic blows over – Jimmy-Sum will be ready to help you track down the best property in Singapore. Whether you’re looking for New Launch Condos, Residential Condos or New Development projects – feel free to reach out to us and if you do have a Real Estate issue in Singapore and need some advice – do not hesitate to get in touch.
We hope this article provided you with some insight and gave you some peace in relation to the madness happening all around the world. Stay safe and healthy!
