Singapore among top cities for ultra-prime residential sales: Knight Frank

Singapore remains a highly desirable city for affluent buyers, according to the latest edition of Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report. Last year, Singapore saw 121 transactions of super-prime residential properties worth over US$10 million and 18 ultra-prime deals over US$25 million, ranking sixth among the top 10 cities for high-end residential sales.

New York topped the list for super-prime sales with 244 deals and London and Los Angeles clocking up the second and third highest figures, respectively. For ultra-prime deals, New York and London saw 43 transactions each, followed by Los Angeles with 39. Other notable cities included Hong Kong and Sydney.

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Across these cities, a total of 1,392 super-prime sales worth $26.3 billion were recorded in 2022, despite the fact that this figure is lower than the record-breaking 2,076 transactions recorded in 2021. Meanwhile, ultra-prime sales totalled US$9.8 billion across 241 transactions.

Last year, prices of prime homes in Singapore increased modestly in comparison to other cities. Among the 100 global markets tracked by Knight Frank’s Prime International Residential Index (PIRI 100), Singapore ranked 58th, with prime home prices up 3.9% – much lower than the 8.6% overall increase in Singapore private residential properties.

It is largely attributed to the government’s efforts to rein in prices through cooling measures and travel restrictions.

At the top, Dubai topped the PIRI 100 for a second year in a row, registering a price growth of 44.2% for its prime properties. Tokyo was the highest-ranking Asia Pacific city, coming in fourth with a price growth of 22.8%.

Over 85 markets tracked by Knight Frank recorded positive or flat price growth, with Wealth preservation, safe-haven capital flight, and supply constraints playing a major role.

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While the majority of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) saw their wealth decline last year, a more optimistic outlook is anticipated for 2023. A survey of 500 private bankers, wealth advisers, family offices and other intermediaries managing over US$2.5 trillion of wealth for UHNWI clients indicates that 69% expect their Tengah Plantation EC clients’ wealth to increase this year.

The Wealth Report highlights that capital growth is a major goal among Apac’s wealthy, with many looking to real estate and many UHNWS looking to buy a residence in 2023. In addition, primary and secondary homes make up 35% of the total wealth of Apac UHNWIs.

The Wealth Report also notes that private investors, which include individuals and family offices, accounted for 41% of the US$1.12 trillion global commercial property investments made in 2022. Private investors invested some US$1.53 billion in commercial real estate across Apac in 2022, representing a 30% year-on-year increase.

Singapore remains an attractive investment hub according to Nicholas Keong, Knight Frank Singapore’s head of private office. “[Singapore’s] highly regulated and transparent market will be attractive to UHNWIs with opportunities available for private wealth looking to invest for the purposes of capital preservation and appreciation over the mid to long term.”