Insight - Singapore’s housing party is on. Watch the clock

Hot pursuit: The Toa Payoh housing estate at night. New apartments are in demand with one project selling 90% of its units in a single day virtually over Zoom. ─ AFP

FROM Munich to Frankfurt, and Toronto to Hong Kong, housing bubbles have either grown bigger through the pandemic or refused to deflate. Singapore’s property, though, is in a sweet spot of affordability, making it a likely target of an investment frenzy.

But dispel any illusions: The city-state has a habit of breaking up speculative parties long before they pop. That doesn’t mean that everyone has to go home just yet. The cue for that may come from so-called en bloc sales, where builders buy out all existing apartment owners and redevelop the land for newer, bigger projects.