If you’ve been reading the news lately, you may be surprised to hear about the “wave of regional buyers” that are expected to descend on Sentosa Cove. Yes, we’re talking about the same place where the prices of detached homes have managed to almost halve since the last peak in 2013 (more on this below); yet amazingly, now in the grip of Covid-19, they’re expected to do better. It’s a bit of a hard pill to swallow, but let’s keep an open mind: after all, private home sales, HDB resale flats, and landed home sales have all seen a pick-up despite Covid-19; so why not an unexpected upturn? Here’s a deeper look at where the optimism is coming from: Why the sudden optimism over Sentosa Cove bungalows? The empirical evidence is frankly a little thin; it’s based on a rise in transaction volumes over a single year. This is what’s making the news at the moment:...