Source:  Straits Times, 18 Feb 2010

Malaysians have come in tops in buying private homes in Singapore among the non-Singaporean buyers. They account for 27 per cent of the total transactions whilst Indonesians make up the lowest proportion since 1995, accounting for 19 per cent.

The trend for Malaysians buying property in Singapore started to grow last year. Geographical proximity and cultural similarities are the key reasons. Furthermore, Malaysians will look at a wider range of property while Indonesians will focus on upper-middle tier to high-end homes. This is evident as one third of the transactions worth more than $1.5 million are made up by Indonesians while more Malaysians made up the transactions below $1.5 million during the second quarter last year. As Malaysian buyers tend to buy for property in order to reside in them, mainly in the mass-market segment, up to 75 per cent of the transactions by Malaysians were made by Singapore PRs.