Chart of the Day: Homes bought by expats hit 1,600 in 2017

This is still lower than the bull market average of 3,600 per year.

This chart from the Bank of Singapore (BOS) shows foreign home buyers only made 1,600 transactions in 2017, lower than the bull market average of 3,600 per year.

The figure is also lower than the long-term average of 2,200 transactions per year.

BOS said the housing recovery in Singapore has been mostly driven by domestic buyers.

In terms of percentage of total transactions, only 5.6% of transactions in 2017 were attributed to foreigners against a long-term 18-year average of 8.7%.

"As the housing upturn gains further momentum ahead, we see the re-emergence of a larger set of foreign buyers becoming a meaningful tailwind and kicking the bull market into a higher gear," BOS head of strategy Eli Lee said.