Property market turns pessimistic amid Middle East crisis: NUS
Survey results indicated 50% of developers anticipate higher costs for brand-new household launches for the following 6 months, whilst 60% predict launch volumes to hold firm, supported by resistant buyer demand.
Both the current and future view indices dropped in 1Q2026. The previous contracted to 4.9 from the previous quarter’s 6.1. The last slid to 5.0 from 5.5 in the preceding quarter.
Throughout business and industrial sectors, sentiments extensively declined. The business park and hi-tech area industry led this downturn, posting a present web balance of -25% and a future net balance of -20%.
“With the Composite Index slipping beneath the neutral threshold, it is clear that the industry is changing from an expansionary mindset to one of defensive consolidation as companies change right into a ‘risk-off’ position,” states Qian.
Teacher Qian Wenlan, director of the NUS Ireus, attributes the depressed shift in the industry to macroeconomic headwinds coming from the conflict occurring in the Middle East. “The recurring situation in the Middle East– with its cascading impacts on growing energy costs, persistent inflation, and elevated interest rates– has actually dampened property sentiment right here in Singapore,” she explains.
Sentiment also decreased in the retail and hospitality real estate markets. The prime retail and suburban retail sections logged current net balances of -20% and -15% for 1Q2026, while the resort and serviced apartment segment had a current net equity of -15%.
It makes up a Current Sentiment Index and a Future Sentiment Index, which track changes over the prior six months and the next six months, specifically. Scores from both of these indices are aggregated to derive a Composite Index, that indicates general market belief.
Produced by NUS’ Department of Real Estate and Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (Ireus), the Resi tracks assumptions and assumptions of the real estate industry through quarterly surveys of senior execs in Singapore realty firms.
Workplaces fared relatively better. While the market’s present net balance slipped to 0% from the 12% in 4Q2025, low Grade A vacancy and a limited upcoming supply pipeline are anticipated to boost this section, shown in a favorable future overview of +15%.
International political headwinds are casting a shadow over Singapore’s real property market, according to the current Realty Sentiment Index (Resi) presented by the National University of Singapore (NUS). The Composite Sentiment Index plunged to 4.9 in 1Q2026, from 5.8 in the last quarter.
However, sentiment in the top residential market has actually lightened. While the segment secured a positive current net balance of 5% in 1Q2026, the number is a marked decrease from the 41% logged in the last quarter. “The prime residential field is naturally more sensitive to changes in global funding and international buyer sentiment,” notes Qian.
Still, the residential home market remains secure, with participants mirroring gauged trust in the suburban household market. Throughout all realty sections, rural residential topped the list with a positive existing web balance and future net equilibrium of +15% each.
