Singapore has been described by Moneyweek as the Monaco and Switzerland of Asia. Country has budget surplus and houseprices are low compared to Hong Kong. Unemployment is 2.9% and job growth is at 200,000 per year. I expect Singapore to be a good long term bet. I am looking at some investment options on the Singapore Stock market to exploit the property sector and some other sectors. I also think the singapore dollar is a good hedge against pound & euro.

Has anyone got particular tips for this market?

This might shed a little more light for you:

http://www.worldpropertyprices.co.uk/Singapore-1.htm

http://www.property-report.com/aprarchives...amp;date=020507

Just came across the above based on a May 1st article in Wall Street Journal (subscription only). Might help too give a flavour of what's going on in Singapore.

Some (many) new developments are already up 50-100% in past 1-2 years, so no longer as cheap. Basically, you didn't need to be picky about to make a gain last year as they have all gone up (apart from govt HDB housing). Now, it's harder, though the trend is still positive in 1-2 year horizon as large number of old estates have gone en-bloc (ie bought for redevelopment) so supply will fall in this period.
Prices for luxury are easily SGD2-3m for 3-4 beds. This is almost USD1.5m. Locations to go for have been Core Central Regions (District 9,10,11 plus New downtown Financial area). But these aren't cheap anymore. Hence some analyst reckon outside areas will be a good bet (eg East Coast, Holland) as they are playing catch-up.
Hard to spot bargains as this rise has meant lots of speculators/investors looking and buying at anything underpriced. This includes the areas mentioned (East Coast, Holland). I saw a development, Rivergate, that had 35-40 units left 3 weeks ago at a good price. Apparently, all sold yesterday.

It may be, if you REALLY believe in this market, to just take the plunge anywhere. However, it really depends on if this hype works out (eg will it really be the Monaco/Switzerland of Asia ???).

I am vested in this market for 1 year, and am on hold. SGD also has risen 15% vs USD in past year. If you are hedging, USD assets may be a good bet sometime (i.e. also HK, Macau). Will it be GBP1:2.5 USD or GBP 1.5 ?? Any big falls in USD should mean you should go for USD assets.
Other good location is Malaysia. Currency gone up 20% in past 6 mths since it delinked from USD. But easily 30-40% off its peak in the Asian crisis (1996).

Local agents say that market has been quiet for last 1 month, mainly due to the impact of subprime crisis on equity market. Yesterday papers reported that Ritz Carlton will launch its Residence condominium in Singapore, and it will be 20-50% premium to the neighborhood properties. It will be interesting how the response will be.

Today's report from Asian Wall Street Journal:

By PATRICIA KOWSMANN
September 14, 2007
SINGAPORE -- The global market turmoil and a recent rise in a tax paid by developers is hurting Singapore's booming residential property sector.

Industry experts say fundamentals for the sector, which has been driven by high demand and low supply, continue to be strong for now, but the U.S. subprime crisis has turned developers, buyers and investors cautious.

Domestic factors have also contributed to a less upbeat mood in the sector, particularly recent rises in the tax on property sites that are developed into more valuable projects.

Late last month, the government increased the tax on redevelopment by an average of 58% across regions on sites for non-landed residential property. For landed residential property, the levy was increased by an average of 11% from levels in July.

Singapore's Straits Times Index also fell nearly 15% between July 24, when it hit a record, and mid-August as a result of the fallout of the U.S. subprime crisis. It has since recovered most of its losses but is still more than 4% off its peak.

"Things were going extremely well earlier this year. But now we are getting almost no calls from people interested in buying properties. It's really bad," said Derrick Eremenko, a local real-estate agent with a large firm. "Even though the stock market has recovered quite a bit, people are afraid. Even developers are holding to see how the market is performing, so there aren't any projects being launched even though they are ready."

Prices for Singapore residential properties have sharply increased since last year, sometimes breaking 1996 records, the golden year for the sector. Private-home prices rose 8.3% in the second quarter from the first, the second-fastest pace on record as valuations surged across the island.

About 85% of Singaporeans live in public housing built by the government's Housing and Development Board. Private developers compete to provide housing for the remaining 15% of Singapore nationals, along with a sizable foreign population.

According to OCBC Investment Research analyst Winston Liew, if the U.S. subprime crisis deepens, "demand for houses will continue to slow down, and obviously this will materially affect future earnings for developers" in Singapore.

"Presently, the sentiment is poor. I think going forward, things are going to slow down even more," he said.
The tax increase is also likely to cool the market, since developers will be less willing to buy from collective sales or will be forced to raise property prices to absorb the higher tax, some analysts said.

"Developers are turning cautious, and they will not be willing to pay a high price because the expectation in this current turmoil is that asset values could potentially fall," Mr. Liew said.

A spokesman for CapitaLand Ltd., Southeast Asia's largest property developer by market capitalization, said that with a land bank of 5.5 million square feet, the company can be selective with projects and site acquisitions.

"We are well capitalized and maintain a low gearing strategy. Between last November and May this year, CapitaLand raised 1.43 billion Singapore dollars (US$945.8 million) through two tranches of convertible bonds at a coupon of less than 3% and this provides us with a good supply of long-term money," he said.