SINGAPORE'S luxury home prices may rebound and reach a record in two years as the city state's casino resorts open and the private banking industry develops, SC Global Developments Ltd Chief Executive Officer Simon Cheong said yesterday.
About 13 million square feet of office space is expected to be built in the next two years, against 50 million square feet now, and companies have already signed leases before the buildings are completed, he said, pointing to his optimism that it would translate into demand for homes.
"2010 is a fair time frame," said Cheong in an interview with Bloomberg News. "When the market turns around, you must have the product." Singapore's home prices, which rose to a record in 2007, are easing as the government predicts slower growth amid the United States subprime crisis. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday the economic woes will "at least" continue into next year.
The government this month lowered its 2008 economic expansion forecast to between 4 percent and 5 percent from an earlier estimate of as much as 6 percent. The economy is expected to slow down as Asian manufacturers face declining demand from the US, the region's largest overseas market. Singapore's economy grew 7.7 percent in 2007.
SC Global's "The Marq" apartment project, close to the prime Orchard Road shopping belt, fetched a record S$5,100 (US$3,613) per-square-foot in June last year. The company didn't disclose the size of the unit, and said at the time investors paid between S$11 million and S$31 million for homes in the project.