According to a new report, Singapore's private home prices are now the most expensive in the Asia- Pacific region, surpassing Hong Kong.
Data from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific Housing Accessibility Index shows that the average price of a detached house in Singapore was $1.2 million in 2022, higher than Hong Kong's $1.16 million.
According to the report, private rental properties in Singapore also have the highest monthly rents in the region at $2,600 – “far exceeding” other cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Hong Kong.
Modern and luxurious smart homes in Singapore, seen from above on a hot summer day at the Keppel Bay Marina area in the city center. Photo: Getty Images
The report compiled government statistics from 45 cities across nine markets in the Asia-Pacific region, measuring homeability for both home ownership and rentability in relation to average household income.
Hong Kong is "behind" Singapore.
ULI stated that Hong Kong's housing prices "fell significantly" in 2022, citing a sharp rise in mortgage interest rates as Hong Kong caught up with the US Federal Reserve (FED).
In October, Hong Kong's housing prices fell to their lowest level in five years as rising interest rates pushed up borrowing costs.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong's monetary authority raised its benchmark interest rate to 5.5%, following the US Federal Reserve's increase in the federal funds rate from 5% to 5.25%.
The ULI report stated that “net population outflow” and “less optimistic outlook” on the local property market also contributed to an 8.7% drop in Hong Kong’s average home price, from $1.27 million in 2021 to around $1.16 million in 2022.
Meanwhile, Singapore's private homes have surpassed Hong Kong to become the most expensive in the Asia-Pacific region, with average prices rising by more than 8% over the past year, the report said.
The cities with the most expensive private housing prices in Asia-Pacific. Source: Urban Land Institute Asia Pacific Centre for Housing
Just last month, Singapore raised taxes on property purchases amid concerns that rising prices “could outpace the fundamentals of the economy.”
In a new round of cooling measures, the Singapore government said that both domestic and foreign buyers of residential properties will have to pay higher taxes, known locally as the additional buyer's stamp duty.
However, the report added that private homes in Hong Kong remain the most expensive per square meter, priced at $19,768 and "more than double" the average for Singapore, Shenzhen, and Beijing.
Rental prices have increased dramatically.
Singapore's private rental properties have the highest monthly rents in the region, which increased by nearly 30% in 2022.
ULI attributes the increase in rents and housing prices to a variety of factors, such as rising migration, slower building completion rates, and young professionals leaving multi-generational family homes for more space and independence.
The report added that private home prices have fallen in Sydney and Melbourne as more people return to regional cities and there have been 11 “unprecedented” interest rate hikes in 12 months.
But houses and apartments across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have seen an increase in average monthly rents.
The average monthly rent for houses in Sydney is $1,958, while the average rent for apartments is $1,732.
These are the cities with the most expensive rental housing prices in Asia-Pacific. Source: Urban Land Institute Asia Pacific Centre for Housing
“There has been a reversal of the trend of population migration back to capital cities since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022. This could be one of the reasons why average rental prices have risen in the country,” David Faulkner, President of ULI Asia Pacific, told CNBC.
Expensive, but buy in bulk.
Although private homes in Singapore are the most expensive in the region, the city also has the highest home ownership rate at 89.3%.
This is despite a 7.9% increase in the average housing price set by the Singapore Housing Development Board (HDB) from 2021 to 2022, with the average HDB price-to-average annual income ratio also rising from 4.5 to 4.7. The HDB, or Housing Development Board, is Singapore's public housing authority.
For private homes in Singapore, this figure is 13.7%.
The report states: "Generally, home ownership is considered unaffordable when the ratio of average home prices to average annual household income exceeds 5%."
"According to this standard, only HDB apartments and apartments in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia, are considered affordable."
Similar to last year's index, cities in mainland China ranked lowest in terms of accessibility to housing.
The report notes that China's home ownership rate has "declined significantly" over the past 10 years.
"The housing adequacy of cities is directly linked to the supply of new housing relative to population growth," the report added.
“For Shenzhen, its population increased by more than 7 million people in the 12-year period from 2010 to 2022… but the supply of new housing increased by only 31 million square meters, the smallest increase among Chinese cities during the same period,” the report states.
Hoang Tu/According to CNBC
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