NUS Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies

Happy National Day, Singapore! Best wishes from all of us at IREUS!

Intergenerational wealth transfer through housing – lessons from China’s housing reforms.

A study of China’s housing reforms in the 1990s demonstrates the sustainability of property-backed welfare and redistribution, and at the same time reveals how intergenerational wealth can perpetuate price resilience.

Following systemic reforms from 1994 to 1998, the privatisation of residential property in China gave households the opportunity to own and accumulate home equity for the first time. Over the decades, significant capital gains were successfully monetised through property sales to younger homebuyers, thereby enabling an intergenerational transfer of wealth.

The commercialisation of the market also created robust demand that supported strong pricing and underpinned long-term market valuations.

Get a quick overview in our podcast here:
https://ireus.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Video-Project-10-China-Housing-Reforms-Compressed.mp4

You may also like to read a summary here:
https://ireus.nus.edu.sg/intergenerational-wealth-transfer-china-housing-reforms/

Property sentiment turns pessimistic amid on-going Middle East crisis

Amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, property sentiment in Singapore took a sharp turn downward as macroeconomic headwinds began to strain industry confidence.

In our 1Q 2026 Real Estate Sentiment Index (RESI) survey, the Composite Sentiment Index – a weighted average of the current and future sentiment indices – dropped to 4.9, slipping below the neutral 5.0 threshold for the first time in recent quarters.

The domestic residential sector, however, remained resilient, providing a silver lining amid the broader commercial and industrial slowdown.

More details in The Business Times article by Ry-Anne Lim.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/property/singapore-real-estate-execs-turn-pessimistic-q1-inflation-fears-mount-nus-poll

Download the full RESI report here: https://ireus.nus.edu.sg/publications/real-estate-market-indexes/real-estate-sentiment-index-resi/

Singapore real estate execs turn pessimistic in Q1 as inflation fears mount: NUS poll Residential sector is a rare bright spot as sentiment towards commercial real estate weakens Read more at The Business Times.

Today, we are delighted to host a delegation from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Doctor of International Real Estate and Construction.

As IREUS Director, Professor Wenlan Qian, said, "in addition to sharing our insights, we also look forward to learning about the Hong Kong experience from our visitors."

Wishing our guests a good stay in Singapore!

NUS Business School, National University of Singapore | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - PolyU

In collaboration with the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER), we launched Real Estate & Urban Economics track at the ABFER 13th Annual Conference this morning.

ABFER is an institute founded by academics from Asia, North America, and Europe, with the mission to create a virtual and independent network of high-quality academics akin to the NBER/CEPR, as well as conferences and workshops. (https://www.abfer.org/)

Watch this space for more content over the next two days!

Happy birthday to us!

We are excited to share that we celebrated our 20th anniversary at the IREUS Urban Housing Symposium 2026 last Friday, 8 May.

Two decades ago, IREUS – then known as the Institute of Real Estate Studies or IRES – was officially launched in June 2006 to foster research on real estate and the capital market.

As our scope expanded over the years, our research evolved to encompass infrastructure, housing, urban planning, economics, demographics, household finance and consumer behaviour, as well as wide-ranging topics in sustainability and technology.

Hence in 2018, we were renamed the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) – and here we are today, two decades on, continuing our mission to drive thought leadership for the built environment.

We were deeply privileged to have Minister for National Development, Mr Chee Hong Tat 徐芳达, as our guest of honour for this occasion. Thank you, Minister Chee, for gracing this event and sharing your insights! We appreciate your leadership and commitment to a transparent, principled approach to housing and estate renewal in Singapore. It was our pleasure to host you!

Many thanks also to our speakers and panellists for contributing their ideas on wide-ranging topics covering public and private housing, sustainability and environmental resilience.

Finally, to all our guests for your unwavering support over the years – thank you!

[ Photos: MND ]

Ministry of National Development | National University of Singapore