Modern and opulent smart homes in Singapore, seen from above on a hot summer day in the Keppel Bay Yacht Marina area in the city center.
Tobias | E+ | Getty’s paintings
Private homes in Singapore are actually the most expensive in the Asia-Pacific region, surpassing Hong Kong, in response to a recent report.
Data from the Home Attainability Index from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific Center for Housing showed that the median price of private homes in Singapore was $1.2 million in 2022, in comparison with $1.16 million in Hong Kong.
In keeping with the report, private rental homes in Singapore also had the highest monthly rent in the region at $2,600 – “far surpassing” other cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong.
The report was based on government statistics from 45 cities in nine markets in the Asia-Pacific region – while also measuring the affordability of homes by way of each home ownership and residential rentals relative to median household income.
Hong Kong vs Singapore
Hong Kong house prices “have fallen significantly” in 2022, ULI said, citing a big rise in mortgage rates as Hong Kong keeps pace with the US Federal Reserve.
Hong Kong house prices in October fell to a five-year low as rate of interest hikes pushed up borrowing costs.
Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised the base rate of interest to five.5%after the US central bank raised the federal funds rate to five% to five.25%.
The ULI report found that “net exodus” and a “less optimistic outlook” on the local real estate market also caused the median home price in Hong Kong to fall by 8.7% – from $1.27 million in 2021 to around $1.16 USD million in 2022
Meanwhile, private homes in Singapore overtook Hong Kong homes as the most expensive in the Asia-Pacific region, with median prices up greater than 8% last 12 months, the report said.
Just last month, Singapore raised taxes on property purchases amid concerns that rising prices “could overtake economic fundamentals.”
Most expensive cities for private homes in the Asia-Pacific region
City | Median housing price per unit |
---|---|
Singapore | $1,200,087 |
Hong Kong | $1,155,760 |
Sydney | $980,209 |
Melbourne | $716,200 |
Shenzhen | $626,964 |
Source: Asia-Pacific Urban Land Institute Housing Center
In a recent round of cooling measures, the Singapore government said local and foreign buyers of residential properties could have to pay higher taxes, known locally as additional buyer stamp duty.
Nonetheless, the report added that Hong Kong’s private homes are still the most expensive per square meter, costing $19,768 and “well greater than double” the average values in Singapore, Shenzhen and Beijing.
Rental prices
ULI attributed the rise in rents and house prices to a wide range of aspects, including a rise in migrants, a slowdown in completion, and young professionals moving out of their multi-generational family homes for more room and freedom.
Most expensive cities for private rental in the Asia-Pacific region
City | Average monthly rent per unit |
---|---|
Singapore | $2596 |
Houses in Sydney | $1958 |
apartments in Sydney | $1732 |
Hong Kong | $1686 |
Brisbane houses | $1657 |
Source: Asia-Pacific Urban Land Institute Housing Center
Private house prices fell in Sydney and Melbourne as more people returned to regional cities and “unprecedented” 11 rate of interest hikes in 12 months, the report added.
But houses and flats in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane saw their average monthly rent increase.
Renting houses in Sydney averages $1,958 monthly, while apartment rentals are $1,732.
“Since the end of Covid-19 in 2022, there was a reversal of population movement back to the capitals. This was probably considered one of the reasons for the rise in median rent in the country,” said David Faulkner, president of ULI’s Asia-Pacific region. he told CNBC.
Home reachability
Despite Singapore’s private homes being the most expensive in the region, the city-state also has the highest homeownership rate at 89.3%.
That is despite a rise in median HDB prices of seven.9% between 2021 and 2022, with the ratio of median HDB price to median annual income also increasing from 4.5 to 4.7. The HDB, or Housing Development Board, is Singapore’s housing authority.
For private homes in Singapore, the ratio is 13.7.
“Normally, home ownership is taken into account unaffordable when the ratio of median home price to median annual household income is larger than five,” the report said.
“Under this standard, only Singapore Development Board (HDB) housing units and housing units in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia are considered inexpensive.”
Where homes are most inaccessible in the Asia-Pacific region
City | The ratio of the median house price to the median annual household income |
---|---|
Shenzhen, China | 35 |
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 32.5 |
Beijing, China | 29.3 |
Da Nang, Vietnam | 26.7 |
Hong Kong, China | 26.5 |
Source: Asia-Pacific Urban Land Institute Housing Center
As in last 12 months’s index, continental cities rank amongst the lowest by way of home availability.
The report noted that China’s homeownership rate has “significantly fallen” over the last 10 years.
“The provision of homes in cities is directly related to the amount of recent housing in relation to population growth,” it added.
“For Shenzhen, its population grew by greater than 7 million over the 12-year period from 2010 to 2022…nevertheless, its recent housing stock only grew by 31 million square meters, the smallest increase [among Chinese cities] in the same period”.