A view from Singapore
Singapore has had 926 confirmed cases of Covid-19, as of 1st April, and three confirmed deaths.
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The city state was quick to implement inbound travel restrictions having learnt from the SARS outbreak in 2003. Singapore introduced strict social distancing but stopped short of the widespread lockdown seen in other nations, with businesses remaining open, as we noted in Monday’s blog, the population’s mobility remains about half of the normal level, the highest of the cities we looked at.
In the residential sector a positive sentiment remains and sales are still moving. In January and February transactions were up 29% and 62% year on year, respectively. This is in a large part being driven by domestic demand.
As we can see from the figure below, the level of transactions by Singapore nationals saw a noticeable increase in January and February, when compared to the same time last year, up 24% and 63% respectively. In the first two weeks of March, Singaporeans accounted for 82% of transactions, compared to a 2019 average of 79%.
On the other hand, transactions by Chinese nationals fell by 7% and 38% year on year, respectively, accounting for just 3% of total transactions in February, down from 8% a year ago and 10% in February 2018. The lower number of transactions may in part be driven by the entry restrictions imposed as well as currency fluctuations. The Chinese Renminbi began the year 2% lower against the Singapore Dollar. However, at the end of March this has pared back, with the Renminbi seeing similar levels, against the Singapore Dollar, as this time last year.
So far in 2020, to mid-March 2020, the higher price brackets have seen proportionally higher level of activity. Sales over SG$5 million account for 4% of transactions in the year to mid-March 2020, up from 2% in the first three months of 2019. However, this is where Singapore nationals are proportionally least active, accounting for 58% - Chinese nationals account for 12%. Domestic demand favours the SG$1-SG$2million bracket, accounting for 84% of transactions and therefore this segment may remain more resilient and see the highest level of activity.
