The Government’s measures to cool the exuberance in Singapore’s property market have started to affect home-buying decisions, according to property website iProperty.com’s 2011 Consumer Property Sentiment Survey.
Some 59.2 per cent of respondents say they are affected by the measures and are either modifying their property buying, selling or renting decisions, or are halting plans to buy or sell for now.
Still, the survey shows that 58.4 per cent of the respondents either do not think that or are undecided whether the measures will succeed in cooling the market.
In fact, 58.7 per cent of the respondents do not think that the measures are sufficient to stabilise public housing prices and have voiced their hopes for more to be done to improve the situation.
Mr Shaun Di Gregorio, CEO of The iProperty.com Group, said: “Housing policies and other property-related issues are arguably one of the key buzz topics of the upcoming General Election. From this survey, there are indications that Singapore home buyers are looking forward to additional measures to bring about significant changes in the policies governing the local property market, so as to further cement their decision-making process.”
The online survey was conducted from Dec 27 last year to Feb 25 this year and 470 people participated. Comprising mostly Singaporeans, permanent residents and expatriates, the majority of respondents were aged 25 to 54 years. More than half currently have plans to purchase or rent their next property.
In addition, in light of recent debates on housing policies amid election campaigning, a quick online poll was conducted over a one-week period from April 28 to gauge public response. The survey shows that over 50 per cent of the 104 respondents are hoping for more affordable housing by way of lower prices for new flats and a re-evaluation of asset enhancement policies, iProperty.com said.
Source : Today – 6 May 2011