Sandy white beach, clear blue skies, exotic architecture, colourful language and culture, warm and hospitable people, as well as spices that would introduce you to a wide range of flavours you never would have experienced anywhere else on this planet – what is not to love about Southeast Asia?

After years of declining home prices in Singapore, analysts are expecting a turnaround as early as this year even as most of the government’s property cooling measures remain in place.Singapore property prices will rise between 5 percent and 10 percent next year after bottoming out in 2017, analyst Vikrant Pandey at UOB Kay Hian said.

After years of declines, Singapore’s home sales are on a roll, even as purchases by foreign buyers have remained muted.Stringent stamp duties levied by the government have had the intended effect of damping speculative foreign demand, with foreign buyers accounting for just 6 percent of purchases in the first half, data from Cushman & Wakefield show.