Ultra rich Indonesians are buying more luxury homes in Singapore

Purchase value has nearly quadrupled to $5m.

Singapore’s property industry may be going through a bad season, but demand for high-end houses from its well off neighbors in Indonesia has shown a sudden upsurge.

Bloomberg reported that purchases by Indonesians of Singapore homes valued at S$5 million (US$3.7 million) or more have already nearly quadrupled to 30 properties YTD compared to last year’s total of only 8 properties. The increase in buying coincides with Jakarta’s new law requiring Indonesians to repatriate or pay taxes on an estimated S$407.1 billion (US$300 billion) that had fled to Singapore during previous periods of unrest, lest those who took their money out be found out for tax evasion.

Indonesians acquired a total of 189 properties of all values in Singapore in 1H16, a 23% increase from the same period a year ago, according to data from Cushman and Wakefield Inc. Transactions by Indonesians also inched up 19% in 2Q16 while purchases from Chinese and Malaysians slumped.

Read the full report here.