Real estate firms prepare for future floods

Flooding has become a new decision-making factor to consider when buying a house, acquiring land and approving home loans and it will also affect the design of houses, condominiums and property projects which will all require flood-protection systems.

During the flood, all low-rise projects in flood zones experienced no sales, while those in non-flooded locations experienced usual or lower sales due to the depressed market sentiment. The fourth quarter is generally the most active season for home purchases.

Meanwhile, condominium projects, particularly those in inner city or non-flooded areas experienced better sales.

Property experts and developers analysed some condominium buyers during this period who decided to buy a unit as a second home for flood evacuation. Some appeared to shift from low-rise units in locations severely hit by the flood.

Though the flood has receded, most low-rise developers were in a wait-and-see situation as consumers were clearly not in a mood to buy houses.

This sluggish period may take at least a quarter to resume or until the second quarter of the year.

Some developers do not believe that people whose houses were in a flood zone will shift location.

However, demand for new houses will likely prefer non-flood zones or consumers will likely choose a non-flooded project in an flood-prone zone if they have limited choice or do not want to shift location.

Knowing this, most developers have decided to postpone the launch of new projects located in flood zones to install flood-protection systems in order to build up homebuyers' confidence.