Caution prevails as sellers, landlords, and agents conduct thorough background checks and sometimes decline offers from the uber-rich.
The transaction drought follows money laundering investigations into a group of people of Chinese origin, significant tax hikes on foreign buyers and rising interest rates. Rental demand for mansions that once hit S$150,000 a month has also cooled as the wealthy think twice about flashy homes in the city-state.
Sellers, landlords and agents are turning cautious and employing more rigorous background checks — and in some cases have actively turned down deals from prospective clients. Potential buyers are also “taking a wait-and-see attitude on how the market goes in terms of pricing and the full extent of the investigations and punishment to be meted out,” said Jennifer Chia, a partner at TSMP Law Corp who heads the firm’s corporate real estate, banking and finance practices.
Another accused, Vang Shuiming, lived in a villa with a large rooftop pool and gym, located in a leafy enclave called Bishopsgate near Singapore’s premier shopping belt. Rental data released by the government shows he paid at least S$150,000 a month in November 2020 to live in the property, a record at the time.