Wealthy parents buy S’pore houses for their kids

Singapore’s strong economy, stable political climate and relaxed regulations on property ownership for foreigners have attracted wealthy Indonesian buyers, an executive says.

Raffles Quay Asset Management (RQAM) marketing director Thomas Tan said on Friday in Jakarta that wealthy Indonesians saw Singapore as an ideal place for investment.

“Singapore is attractive for Indonesians because it has a strong currency and good infrastructure,” he told The Jakarta Post.

“For educational purposes, Singapore also offers more opportunities.”

Tan said that currently, many Indonesians were purchasing houses for their children. “A house is an important facility when Indonesian parents want to send their children to Singapore to pursue higher education,” he said.

Rapid infrastructure developments were another factor pushing Indonesians to buy houses in Singapore.

“The [Singapore] government will build more mass rapid transport lines to connect all important districts,” he said.

There is massive foreign ownership of property in Singapore due to the city state’s relaxed regulations.

The authority of Singapore began attracting foreign buyers when it amended the 1973 Residential Property Act, which had restricted foreign ownership of all private residential property.

According to the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 2,060 Malaysians, 1,770 Chinese and 1,706 Indonesians — the three top buyer groups — purchased private homes last year.

More than 50 percent of the 1,706 Indonesian buyers purchased houses ranging in price from S$1.5 million (US$1.16 million) to S$5 million.

URA also reported that 5.7 percent of them purchased homes worth S$5 million or more and 24.6 percent bought homes worth S$1 million to S$1.5 million.

Tan said that the growth of Indonesia’s economy and local politics might continue to encourage Indonesians to buy property in Singapore.

Tan said that currently his company was handling the sales of Marina Bay Financial Centre suites that would be completed in 2013.

The Business Times newspaper stated that year-to-date, 847 Indonesians had bought houses in Singapore, while the Chinese topped the list with 1,358 buyers and Malaysian buyers amounted to 1,083.

Christopher Fossick, managing director of the Singapore and Southeast Asia wing of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), said that the positive
climate in Indonesia had spurred the investment.

“We see how Indonesian investors are putting their money into real estate outside of the country, particularly in Singapore, but also in China, and as far afield as the UK and the US.” (lfr)