A broadbased recovery in the housing market now looks imminent with some developers feeling confident enough to put in new benchmark bids for 99-year

THERE is a lot to smile about these days.

A broadbased recovery in the housing market now looks imminent with some developers feeling confident enough to put in new benchmark bids for 99-year suburban leasehold sites.

But HDB upgraders are finally making a comeback, bolstered no doubt by salary revisions in the civil service and mid-year bonuses.

Even the much-anticipated fallout from the United States sub-prime crisis and subsequent global credit crunch appears to have left the Singapore property market relatively unscathed. Not only have foreign institutional investors continued to pump money into the property sector, a new base of investors, most notably from the Middle East, are making their presence felt.

Of course, there is still a level of volatility in some segments. The high-end and luxury residential sector may see both foreign and local investors make more cautious decisions about buying into a segment that is already a little peakish.

Speculators, who have been driving up prices in the high-end and luxury segments, also appear to be beating a retreat, after considering the upsides in flipping properties no longer worth the risks.

Emerging markets are also looking like pretty safe bets though.

Few will have failed to notice that when the US sub-prime situation started to unravel in July and August, the China and India markets seemed impervious to its effects.

The growth story of both these powerhouses is well known, so much so that industrialists and developers alike are looking for new frontiers.

Vietnam is certainly a hot favourite now but closer home, Malaysia too holds many opportunities.

And if the Singapore market is anything to go by, the increasingly buoyant high-end sector in its capital city certainly bodes well for the rest of the real estate market.

Risk aversion may yet be the catch phrase of choice for the months ahead.

Not surprising then, financial analysts have come out in support of the mass market and the mid-cap developers most exposed to this segment.

Also looking relatively safe is the growing Singapore real estate investment trust (S-Reit) sector. The first Reit was listed in 2002 and, to date, there are 17 S-Reits with more expected to be listed here, giving even more depth to the market.

Source : Business Times - 27 Sep 2007