Singapore property firms wooing Chinese investors

Several Singapore-based property companies have been doing extra work to attract Chinese investors to invest in the Singapore property market.

According to several property firms, 60 percent or 6 out of 10 prospective Chinese customers are inquiring about Sentosa Cove, which offers luxurious waterfront living. It seems that Chinese investors are not only after the property, but the lifestyle as well.

HSR International said that currently, foreign customers contributed 40 percent of the company’s total sales in major districts. To further lift HSR’s market, the company now has a representative office in China and hosts trips for a group of wealthy Chinese investors to Singapore once every two months.

Mr. Jeffrey Hong, executive director at HSR International Realtors, said, “We target to do slightly more in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year.” 

“We may have exhibitions, we may have road shows, we may even bring prestigious local projects all the way to China to do a launch over there,” he added.

ECG Property has also formed a team to link up with wealth managers to reach out to high net worth individuals in China.

“Either we will fly over there or correspond through emails, after which we will just shortlist the properties they wanted; they will usually fly over to Singapore over the weekends, that is when we will bring them around to see the properties,” said Daryl Ou, executive director of ECG Property.

ECG Property noted that sales of high-end homes increased 5 percent in the first six months of 2010. The company plans to have an investment office in Guangzhou, China.

Real estate agents believe that the growing demand for homes from Chinese buyers will sustain due to the yuan appreciation that has strengthened their buying power, as well as the fact that home prices in Singapore are more affordable compared with other Asian countries.