Fresh figures suggest changing power among foreign and local buyers of private homes in the Asian city-state.

Singaporeans accounted for a smaller proportion of private house purchases in 2014 compared to 2013, while sales to those designated as permanent residents rose and those classed as foreigners were flat, a report in the Straits Times newspaper said.

Local Singaporeans had a 71 per cent share of sales, down from 75 per cent in 2013, the newspaper said, citing DTZ. The share of sales among permanent residents, a status those born outside the city-state can acquire, was 18 per cent last year, a rise from 15 per cent. Foreigners accounted for 9 per cent of property that was bought, the report said.

The report comes at a time when cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong are juggling the competing forces of seeking to curb hot property prices and maintain a friendly environment for overseas investors and buyers. Singapore, the global consultancy Mercer said last week, has been ranked as the world’s most desirable city by expats. Separately, the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked the Lion City as the most expensive such place in the world.

Some of the change in the share of private house purchases, the DTZ report claimed, may be driven by how Singaporeans tend to be more visible in the primary rather than secondary market, coupled with the fact the primary sector has felt the impact of cooling measures put in place by the authorities over the past few years.

This publication is in contact with DTZ seeking further details; it may update in due course.