iProperty survey: Party still on in Singapore, Indonesia

According to the second round of the bi-annual survey, 62 per cent of Singaporeans and 82 per cent of Indonesians are keen to purchase property in the next six to twelve months.

In Singapore, this could be tied to increasd ad spend in the property sector this year. According to The Nielsen Company, Singapore's property sector spent 33 per cent more this year, totalling US$101 million for the period January to August 2012 over the same period last year (US$76 million). 

Nevertheless, despite a 20 per cent increase in ad expenditure for the property market in Malaysia this year, only 32 per cent of Malaysians showed the same enthusiasm.

Even in Hong Kong, where property prices are among the highest in the world, slightly more (35 per cent) of respondents are planning on purchasing property in the coming year. 

“Despite economic situations such as the Euro-debt crisis and problems in the United States, which have resulted in slowing demand from Asia's key trading partners, sentiments in the Asian real estate markets is still fairly positive,” said Shaun Di Gregorio, CEO of The iProperty Group.

Thirty-eight per cent of Singaporeans surveyed said they were considering investing overseas, with Malaysia and Australia being the preferred destinations.

Their counterparts in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia were not as willing to splurge. Thirty-two per cent of Indonesians surveyed, 15 per cent of those in Hong Kong and 19 per cent  in Malaysia were scouting overseas locales.

However, 86 per cent of those surveyed in Singapore said that affordability and rising house prices were their top concern. Eighty per cent also approved of continued intervention from the Singapore Government to maintain prices in HDB flats.

“While housing affordability remains a major concern for consumers in Singapore, the majority of them are still actively looking to purchase property in the short to mid-term,” said Sean Tan, the newly-appointed General Manager of iProperty, Singapore.

Another trend that emerged from the survey was the face that 73 per cent of Malaysians and Indonesians preferred landed property while the majority in Hong Kong opted for private condominiums. 56 per cent of respondents in Singapore would rather buy HDB flats.

Location, price and return on investment were the three major considerations for buying homes in Malaysia and Indonesia. While price and location played a factor amongst those in Hong Kong and Singapore, these consumers were also interested in potential rental yield and mortgage rates.

The market sentiment survey polled 25,000 people in July.  The first round was conducted in February this year. The majority of the respondents were executives and professionals aged between 26 and 50 with an annual income above the national average.

On a separate note, Tan also underscored a changing philosophy within the company to become a digital media platform from just a property website. To drive that, the company recently appointed former Yahoo! Hand Paul Whiteway as chief operating officer. Also, the former director of marketing and portal management for SingTel, Becky Leng has taken over as chief marketing officer.