Two of every three Singaporeans are worried about their living situation in their old age, according to results of PropertyGuru’s latestProperty Affordability Sentiment Index.
DDproperty.com is part of the PropertyGuru Group.
The three biggest fears are the inability to pay for adequate housing, forced to downgrade to a smaller property and relocating to cheaper properties overseas.
The findings correspond with the recent Singapore Budget 2015, which aimed to address the needs of the elderly and middle-income families in coping with Singapore’s rising living costs.
Separately, 56 percent of those polled are still dissatisfied with current real estate conditions due to perceived expensiveness and overly restrictive government policies.
Despite this, respondents rated the property market as becoming less expensive, with an affordability score of 168 in the second half of 2014 – well above the base level of 100.
The scores were calculated on four factors; consumer satisfaction with the property market, property purchase intent of the respondent, perception of property price change and sentiments on government efforts.
Some 76 percent of respondents expect condominium prices to fall over the next six months.
Steve Melhuish, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of PropertyGuru, said: “A total of 43 percent of respondents intend to purchase a property within the first half of 2015 despite a bearish real estate climate. This figure represents a great improvement in consumer sentiment against previous years.
“With the higher purchase intent, this might lead to an increase in transaction volumes in the latter half of 2015. This is derived from insights that there is a strong correlation between property enquiries and transaction volumes, according to our PropertyGuru analytics,” he added.
Almost one thousand respondents took part in the survey, which included Singaporeans and permanent residents.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
