Two in three Singaporeans are worried about their living situation in their old age, according to results of PropertyGuru’s latest Property Affordability Sentiment Index.
Their top three biggest fears are the inability to pay for adequate housing, being forced to downgrade to a smaller property, and relocating to cheaper properties overseas.
The findings correspond with the recent Budget 2015 which aims 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 are calculated on four factors such as consumer satisfaction with the property market, property purchase intent of the respondent, perception of property price change, as well as sentiments on government efforts.
Meanwhile, 76 percent of respondents expect condominium prices to fall over the next six months.
Commenting, Steve Melhuish, co-founder and CEO of PropertyGuru said: “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 a thousand respondents took part in the survey, which included Singaporeans and permanent residents.
This story was written by PropertyGuru editor Romesh Navaratnarajah.
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