Steely Resilience

Singapore’s real estate business boomed even during the pandemic and here’s why

- Leong Boon Hoe

The year 2020 will go down in history where many millions of people became infected, while millions also perished from an unknown virus which became a global pandemic in March. In Singapore, we were not spared from the brunt of the novel coronavirus. The nation also witnessed a first – a semilockdown creatively called a “circuit breaker” which lasted 1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days.

Many things changed in the year 2020. Today, it is commonplace to sanitise our hands and wear masks when we are out of the house. Working from home and e-commerce became widely adopted. These were not new trends – but a global pandemic certainly accelerated them.

After a roller-coaster year, Singapore’s private residential property market has emerged largely unscathed. Here are a few things that sum up an unforgettable year.

TECHNOLOGY IS HERE TO STAY

While some industries like the travel and hospitality industries were badly hit, others have thrived since the SARS-CoV-2 virus forever became known as COVID-19 on 11 February 2020.

One such industry is the technology industry. Tech companies played a critical role in enabling companies to carry on business as usual and as best as they can. As “Zoom” become a verb, and a definition of a noun in the Cambridge Dictionary, its little-known founder and CEO made over USD 12 billion between March and September. Just as people turned to Zoom for their video conferencing needs, developers relied on digital solution providers such as Matterport to create virtual show flats when physical viewings were disallowed during the Circuit Breaker that lasted almost eight weeks.

Digitalisation became a top priority for the real estate industry. Agents learnt how to engage prospects during virtual walk-throughs. Analysts gave their take on the market via webinars. Agents introduced the properties they represent to the audience online.