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Analysts say now is the right time to sell homes

Posted on 3 Jul 2013 | Comments Off

With private home prices hitting an all-time high, analysts are telling investors that they must sell their properties now instead of waiting for prices to increase further.

“At this point in time, URA’s price index shows that prices are at an all-time high, so it is an opportunity for investors to cash out at today’s level rather than to wait for future price appreciation,” said Chia Siew Chuin, Director of Research and Advisory at Colliers International.

In the last few years, home prices have been climbing following the influx of newly completed projects launched prior to the introduction of the seventh and most comprehensive round of cooling measures.

“Based on latest statistics, there are about 60 newly completed projects in the first quarter of this year,” said Nicholas Mak, Executive Director of SLP International Property Consultants. “Some of these projects that are completed this year were launched for sale three years ago before some of the more severe cooling measures were implemented.”

“The owners who bought some of these strata-titled units three years ago can still sell them and they are not subjected to sellers’ stamp duty,” he added.

Newly completed projects appeal to buyers wanting to move into a new home or rent out the unit easily, analysts noted. However, selling a property now could take longer as buyers become more cautious as some are affected by the cooling measures, such as the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD), while others opt to purchase directly from developers who provide attractive discounts.

Source – PropertyGuru – 3 2013

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Posted in Cooling Measures, Property Market / Real Estate

Tagged ABSD, additional buyer’s stamp duty, Newly completed projects, Real estate pricing, Singapore Property Market

Weak demand for resale property to continue

Posted on 22 May 2013 | Comments Off

Singapore saw a sharp decline in residential resale volumes across all segments in the first quarter of 2013, according to a DTZ report.

The quarterly and year-on-year drop is a “stark contrast” to 2012, when resale deals rebounded following the introduction of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD).

“The recovery in resale volume last year was due to buyers finding better value in the resale market after some projects in the primary market set benchmark prices. In comparison, developers were more competitive in their pricing strategies this year and the latest round of cooling measures in January 2013 were more comprehensive than that in December 2011. The mismatch in the expectations between buyers and sellers could also have contributed to the weak resale volume,” said DTZ.

In terms of buyer profiles, foreigners accounted for 9.9 percent of all transactions in Q1 this year, up from an average of 6.4 percent in 2012.

However, demand from local buyers fell as they are now required to pay ABSD for their second and subsequent properties.

“Buying behaviour varied among non-Singaporean groups in the resale market. Firstly, purchases by USA nationals remained resilient, especially so in the high-end segment, as they are not subject to the 15 percent ABSD for foreigners. Transactions by Indonesian buyers in the high-end segment however fell. In comparison, demand from mainland Chinese buyers held up well across most price segments, except for those costing below S$1 million.”

Moving forward, DTZ expects the resale market to underperform as there are no discounts being offered unlike in the primary market. Buyer activity is also expected to be lower due to higher stamp duties, weaker rental growth and stricter financing regulations.

Source – PropGuru – 22 May 2013