British billionaire inventor Sir James Dyson sold his penthouse in the tallest building in Singapore last October at a loss for a reported S$62m (US$47m), according to the Business Times. If only he’d waited a few more months.

Buyers have returned to the Lion City, hoovering up flats. Local home prices rose 3.3 per cent in the first quarter, the most in nearly three years. Total transactions nearly doubled compared with the same time last year.

Singapore’s tightly regulated real estate market means the price surge has fuelled expectations of government intervention. Local developers are fretting. City Developments chair Kwek Leng Beng has cautioned that price-cooling measures could be introduced. Officials last month issued warnings to home buyers of the risk of rising interest rates. It has happened before, though it followed a faster pace of price increase. A 9 per cent rise in 2018 led to intervention.