By Seah Chiang Nee
A luxurious 7,072 sq ft penthouse at a prime district has just
changed hands for S$30 million in one of the most expensive deals
on a per square foot basis.
The buyer was a permanent resident from Hong Kong and, the
seller, an Indian tycoon who had bought it in 2006 for S$17.3 mil
(RM41.21mil).
The cost of the triplex with five bedrooms and an 11m swimming
pool worked out to S$4,242 per sq ft, a record in land-scarce
Singapore.
Last June, an unknown Chinese national snapped up a bungalow on
Sentosa Island for S$36 million, the highest paid for a residence
here.
The PR holder from China had considered the price a “bargain”,
according to the agent who handled the sale.
These are among a rising number of wealthy foreigners –
especially Chinese, Indians and Indonesians – who have made this
city their family residence while doing business outside.
Asia’s growing wealth, particularly from China and India, is
slowly making its way into Singapore. More Europeans, too, are
parking their money here.
For a glimpse of a Singapore in, say, another 10 or 15 years
just take a picture of Monaco or Zurich and superimpose it on
this island.
What will emerge is a city of wealth – transient and
abiding, a land of personal banking, celebrity-chef dinners, where
Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Ferraris ply the street and branded
goods will become daily items.
An example of the foreign presence can be gauged at Sentosa
Cove, one of Singapore’s most posh and expensive waterfront
projects.
More than 3,000 people now live there. They have come from 22
countries, the top five nationalities being Singaporeans (who make
up 40%), Australians, Britons, Germans and Chinese.
“Singapore has opened up a lot in recent years and we’re drawing
foreigners keen to park their money as well as live here,” a
developer said.
The arrival of the nouveau riche has created new fortunes for
Singapore’s upper middle class, but it has also widened the
economic gap between the rich and the poor as few of the lower
class derives much benefit from the phenomenon.
For the upper class, the story is clear. Last year the number of
millionaires jumped by 26%.
Currently, 11.8% of Singaporean households have at least US$1
mil in investible assets (excluding property) each.
Some recent headlines gave an indication of the change, good and
bad.
A Singaporean billionaire, Peter Lim, has just made a US$507 mil
bid (since aborted) to buy England’s Liverpool football team.
And two Singaporeans displayed their wealth less gloriously at
the casino tables.
One, a company managing director of a seafood business, lost
S$26 mil in just three days, while the second, who was in the
latest Forbes list of Singapore’s 40 richest people, dropped S$100
mil.
Easy come, easy go!
Cashing in on it, Citibank last week launched an exclusive
Ultima credit card for the super rich in Singapore where members
must have S$5 mil and admitted only by invitation.
Some of the nouveau riche came because of their children’s
education.
Among them is action star Jet Li, who bought a bungalow for
S$19.8 mil last year. He took up citizenship and sent daughter,
Jane to study here.
Another new settler, US investment guru Jim Rogers, with a net
worth of US$1.8 bil, also came to send his daughter to the
reputable Nanyang Primary School two years ago. To ensure she
got a better chance, Rogers and his wife had performed 40 hours of
volunteer work, something the locals do.
Who are the richest foreigners living here?
The Forbes’ list of top 40 ranks China-born Zhong Sheng
Jian, 48, as the fourth richest man in Singapore with a net worth
of US$2.5 bil.
And 47 year-old Indian-born Sudhir Gupta, now a naturalised
citizen is ranked 13th richest. He has a personal fortune estimated
at US$320 mil.
Seventeen percent of foreign buyers of high-end property in the
first quarter are Chinese, and the number is rising.
One out of five bought houses in prestigious multi-million
dollar districts of 9 to 11, the Central Business District (CBD)
and Sentosa.
Some salesmen have reported cases of Chinese buyers paying the
down payment with a bag of cash, leading to suspicion they may be
keen to cover the money trail.
Recently a growing number of foreigners have turned to buying
landed properties.
Under the law foreigners, including PRs, cannot buy any property
on land or any apartment with fewer than five storeys – except with
special approval.
Under its strategy of attracting the wealthy and talented to
settle here, the government appears to be loosening the screw.
In the first half of this year, 150 such sales were allowed,
most in the prime, rich areas.
Local critics are protesting against such sale of precious
landed properties. “It is like selling the country’s Crown Jewels
to outsiders,” one blogger wrote.
The influx of foreign wealth is not welcomed by all
Singaporeans. Some see their cake becoming smaller and more
expensive.
Many of working class citizens living in the heartland do not
see much benefit from having so many rich people around – but they
feel the pain of rising costs.
A polytechnic student asked: “And what happens to us when they
suddenly take their money and go home?”
Source:
http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/11/11/arrival-of-the-super-rich-in-singapore/