Singapore Home Sales Jump Signals Resilient Property Market

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore home sales closed on a positive note last year as sales rose the most in six months in December, signaling a resilient market that has weathered the city’s worst recession.

Sales of new private apartments jumped 57% last month to 1,217, from 774 in November, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority data released Friday. That’s the highest number since September, when 1,329 units were sold. The percentage increase is the biggest since June, when purchases doubled.

Like many countries, Singapore’s residential property market was badly battered at the peak of the virus, made worse when the city entered a two-month lockdown. During that time, sales plunged to a near six-year low, while prices declined.

Singapore’s property market recovery has been faster than in other nations. Pent up demand, low interest rates and stimulus injections worth more than S$100 billion ($74 billion) have enabled the residential market to rebound. At one point, sales rose to the highest in more than two years. Property values also saw the largest increase in more than two years, according to the government’s most recent estimates.

Buyers are expected to flock to the market amid optimism that the virus spread in the city is under control, with the government easing measures and rolling out vaccinations. The government is forecasting the economy will expand 4% to 6% this year.