It may seem like Singapore's property market is losing the trust of home seekers as they reflect a continued sense of pessimism. According to PropertyGuru Group's Consumer Sentiment survey for1H17, the property affordability sentiment remained unchanged from last year's 29 points despite the recent markers signalling market recovery and generally lower prices across property types.
The sentiment came to be after factoring in perceptions on the real estate market and the value for money rating. It also took into account external realities, such as interest rate situation, perceived government efforts, and anticipated property prices in the next one to five years.
Despite the weak affordability sentiment seen during the said period, overall customer satisfaction with the real estate climate has already improved since its lowest point in 2013.
In the recent survey, satisfaction indicated a small dip of two percentage points to 34 percent. One of the major reason for the generally satisfied sentiment was the good prospect for long-term capital appreciation. This measure went up by 14 percentage points to 29 percent in 1H17.
On the other side of the coin, overpriced properties remained as the top reason for discontentment, with seven out of 10 home seekers attributing this to their negative sentiment. More so, only 32 percent of the respondents noted that there were efforts by the government to make housing affordable.
Additionally, the high property prices have driven the intent to purchase a property in the next six months to fall from 57 percent to only 49 percent in 1H17. Amongst those who are looking to enter the real estate market in the next six months, eight out of 10 are interested in the resale market.
The survey noted that the mature estate District 15, as well as the developing estate in District 19 and District 10, are the most preferred locations for prospective home owners.
