Singapore property investors are being warned by The Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) after receiving 13 complaints regarding purchases of foreign properties in 2013 and 2014.
Foreign property investments by Singaporean have increased notably in previous years with a large number of overseas properties being marketed and advertised in Singapore.
According to CASE, most of the complaints involved property buyer who had invested in foreign properties after being lured by promise of high capital growth.
There were cases where consumer loss of large amount of moneys about more than $100,000 and many of the consumers did not receive any update after making the investment and lost contact with the property investment company.
Another case involved the overseas property developer get insolvent and was incapable to go forward with the development, which leads to a total loss of the investment.
Investing to foreign market gives high risk, such as trends of property market, foreign currency fluctuations, risks in interest rate and sovereign risks. CASE stated.
Furthermore, CASE is suggesting that developers marketing overseas properties provide fact sheets to property investors to help understand what they are acquiring when signing the contract.
The fact sheet must include the financial standing of developer, comprehensible and clear information regarding responsibilities for investors and developers, and also proper evaluation of the property.
Singapore is recognised to be one of the leading real estate buyer in Asia, however some Singapore Property developer also offers International property with comprehensive services to investors, including Wisma Infinitum at Kuala Lumpur and KLCC (Oxley Tower) at Malaysia.
