Downtown Line 2 to open in December 2015

Posted on 3 Jul 2015 | Comments Off on Downtown Line 2 to open in December 2015

Residents in Bukit Panjang and the surrounding areas will have more travel options to other parts of Singapore when the Downtown Line 2 (DTL2) opens this December, ahead of the original Q1 2016 timeframe, revealed Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew in a Facebook post on Sunday.

Construction work on Stage 2 of the project commenced in July 2009, but was expected to be delayed after Alpine Bau, the main contractor for three stations, went bust in 2013.

The 16.6km long DTL2 comprises one depot and 12 stations, including four interchange stations at Little India, Newton, Botanic Gardens and Bukit Panjang.

Schools in the Bukit Timah area, as well as businesses at malls like Coronation Plaza, Railway Mall and Bukit Panjang Plaza are expected to benefit from the new MRT line, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a Facebook update.

Eateries along Sixth Avenue and Beauty World Centre will also become more accessible, LTA added.

Meanwhile, Stage 3 of the DTL is on track to open in 2017. Once completed, the entire line will connect the north-western and central-eastern regions to the new downtown.

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Govt may review cooling measures by year-end

Posted on 3 Jul 2015 | Comments Off on Govt may review cooling measures by year-end

The authorities are likely to review the existing property curbs later this year to ensure a soft landing in Singapore’s residential market, according to a recent Business Times report citing UOB Research.

In light of the bank’s forecast that home prices could suffer a drop of 5.0 to 10 percent in 2015, the government may reduce the seller’s stamp duty (SSD) and lower some selected tax rates under the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD).

“In our view, it may make sense to tweak some of the stamp duty measures such as the ABSD and SSD as market speculation has fallen significantly,” it said.

Aside from that, home buyers are already barred from borrowing beyond their means due to the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework and the caps on loan quantum.

However, UOB feels the government will only ease the existing cooling measures once prices have fallen by at least 10 percent.

“The government is unlikely to act in the absence of a larger price decline as the sharp rise in property prices was a key flash point during the last ‘watershed’ general elections,” explained the report.

Looking back, the authorities only responded when Singapore’s residential market was impacted by major external shocks like the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998 and the dotcom bubble that happened thereafter. Home prices here dived by 45 percent and 20 percent respectively during those periods.

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