The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year for Chinese people all over the world. Celebrated over a 15-day period, the celebration begins with the reunion dinner on the eve of Lunar New Year until “Chap Goh Mei” which is the 15th and final day of Chinese New Year.
The Lunar New Year is traditionally a time for new beginnings, and gathering of family members with wishes for good health, happiness, and good fortune. It is also time to reflect on the past year and with hope that the new year will be smooth sailing in terms of health and wealth.
Many will be looking to acquire new wealth through real estate and investments. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, mainland Chinese would use this 2-week long holiday to shop for properties overseas, particularly in Singapore, Hong Kong and other ASEAN countries. Today, by far, mainland Chinese buyers are the largest foreign purchasers of private homes in Singapore.
However, due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, demand from foreign investors is likely to be muted. There will still be some interest in the Singapore real estate market as developers and estate agencies convert to digitalization for their business with zoom presentations, 360 virtual tours and social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo.
The Lunar New Year period is a particularly busy period for property agents in Singapore catering to investors from China pre-COVID. The Lunar New Year public holiday is officially celebrated over seven days, and many Chinese investors take this opportunity to travel to Singapore with the sole aim of viewing and purchasing properties.
Lunar New Year is celebrated by Chinese all over the world and it is notable that
countries with large Chinese populations, including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines could be using this period to sniff out value buys and invest the Singapore real estate market.
On the flip side, Singaporean Chinese property agents may also be taking this opportunity to have an extended break and enjoy the holidays with their families and loved ones. If you are thinking of putting your property on the market during this period, you may be hard pressed to find agents as they too will be visiting relatives.
One thing is for certain though; with countries rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations and when the current pandemic situation improves worldwide, property investors will return to the Singapore property market in droves.
Check out MOGUL.sg whether to buy or sell a property. With its smart features and agent-client matching algorithm, selling properties is made easier. Click here.
Comments