SINGAPORE – Shophouse sales in Kampong Gelam have “declined sharply” in recent years and most buyers are local, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on April 6.

It was addressing claims made in a series of TikTok videos which suggested that foreigners are purchasing a significant number of shophouses in the area, including in Haji Lane.

“This has raised concerns about the potential impact on property values as well as the sustainability of heritage businesses, and the district’s cultural identity,” the agency noted in a Facebook post.

The agency said shophouse sales in Kampong Gelam have declined by 60 per cent, from an average of 15 transactions a year from 2020 to 2022, to an average of six transactions a year from 2023 to 2025.

For Haji Lane, in particular, transactions declined from an average of three a year from 2020 to 2022, to none from 2023 to 2025, it added.

However, this data includes only transactions for which caveats were lodged – a process that helps to secure a property during a sale, but is not mandatory.

According to URA’s website, which covers caveats lodged in the past 60 months, eight Kampong Gelam shophouses changed hands between June and December 2021, 22 in 2022, eight in 2023, three in 2024 and six in 2025. In total, the area has more than 600 shophouses.

The lowest price paid per sq ft (psf) was $2,789 in January 2022 for a 889.11 sq ft unit in North Bridge Road that is on a 99-year lease, while the highest sale was $13,821 psf for a 1,664.11 sq ft unit in Bali Lane on a 999-year lease, sold in August that same year.

URA’s Facebook post on April 6 follows a series of TikTok videos posted in March 2026 by an account with the handle @dargoyaki.

In the videos, the host speaks with at least two purported tenants about increasing rents in the area, with one claiming that foreigners “scoop up all the properties” and drive rentals up.

The host also questions regulations over the types of businesses allowed in heritage districts and alleges that foreigners are purchasing units “at jacked-up prices, raising up the rental cost to push out indie local boutique businesses, and having their mass-market-appeal businesses come in”.

One such video was picked up by online publication MS News.

URA said that local buyers – which could include entities and individuals – accounted for around three quarters of shophouse transactions in Kampong Gelam between 2020 and 2025. It did not state whether permanent residents were among the local buyers.

It added that in the past two years, only one shophouse was purchased by a foreign buyer, in 2024.

The Straits Times has asked URA for more information on the number of shophouse transactions in Kampong Gelam in the past 10 years, as well as the citizenship status of these buyers.

Kampong Gelam has been in the news recently because of increasing rents, which have put a strain on businesses and threatened longstanding ones.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for National Development Syed Harun Alhabsyi told Parliament on Feb 3 that median rents for retail spaces in historic districts – including Kampong Gelam – had increased by about 2 per cent per annum over the past two years.

He also said that a “small proportion” of leases signed between 2023 and 2025 in Kampong Gelam saw rental increases of 25 per cent or higher.

Some of these leases were previously contracted at below market rates, with rent spikes seen as rates “normalised towards the prevailing market rate”, he had said then.

URA had also previously said that the median rent for shophouses in Kampong Gelam was $6.19 psf in 2025.

This was lower than the median rent for shophouses in Singapore in the fourth quarter of 2025, which stood at $6.50 psf according to a report by real estate company PropNex on Jan 26.

In its April 6 post, URA said: “We understand that many heritage businesses are navigating a challenging operating environment, amidst evolving market conditions and changing consumer preferences.”

It cited efforts to address these issues, including the Inter-Agency Task Force for Heritage Business, Traditional Activities and Cultural Life, various assistance schemes as well as programmes that sustain cultural vibrancy and enhance heritage offerings and visitor experiences.

It also noted that since June 2025, URA has disallowed new souvenir shops in Kampong Gelam, in addition to existing restrictions on new bars, pubs, nightclubs, karaoke lounges and Western fast-food restaurants.

The agency said it will continue to review measures to sustain the character of historic districts and support a diverse mix of offerings for visitors.