Tag Archives: additional buyer’s stamp duty

Property auctions market sputters along

Singapore’s property auction market saw a subdued start to the year due to the effects of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD).

Of the 198 properties put up for auction in H12012, 191 were listed by owners while seven were put up by mortgagees.

“This continues the trend of declining mortgagee listings since Year 2007, which reflects the improved financial position of mortgagors on the back of the continued low interest rate and high liquidity environment, as well as a healthy rental market,” according to Colliers International.

But from the total number of listed properties, only 10 were sold achieving a total sale value of S$34.3 million, the second lowest figure since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The value is 50.5 percent below the S$69.25 million recorded from 33 properties auctioned in the same period last year.

Nevertheless, the total sale value remained 30.1 percent higher than the S$26.37 million seen in H22011.

“While there is a substantial 30.1 percent increase in the total sale value in H12012, it is largely attributed to the sale of a petrol station along Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, which was sold for S$12.73 million,“ said Grace Ng, Deputy Managing Director at Colliers International.

Meanwhile, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) reported that the value proportion of commercial and industrial properties auctioned in H12012 to date saw a new three-year high of 78 percent compared to 32 percent in H12010.

“This has come off the back of a sustained, and some may feel worrying, “herd-mentality” shift in investor interest toward the non-residential sector,” noted JLL.

However, the total value of residential properties sold during auctions stood at 22 percent in H12012, down from 28 percent in H12011 and 61 percent in H12010.

In the near future, the attractiveness of the non-residential sector could be reduced “given the elevated level of policy risk and clustering of investors into the sector”.

Source : PropertyGuru – 2012 Jun 28

Singapore mortgage data shows cooling measures work

Latest figures from Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) indicate that the government’s cooling measures have been positive. It suggests that consumers with existing home loans are unlikely to apply for more, while those without current mortgages account for a higher share of the private home loans market.

The recent measures include lower loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for home buyers with existing mortgages.

In addition, the seller’s stamp duty (SSD) which aims to curb property speculation as well as the ABSD (additional buyer’s stamp duty) could have also dented property investment, resulting in a higher proportion of first-loan cases.

According to CBS’ data, 58.3 percent of the 15,410 Singaporeans/permanent residents (PRs) who were granted private home loans (including refinancing cases) for Q1 2012 did not have outstanding mortgages for either private residential property or HDB flats. The figure is notably higher than the 56.4 percent for 2011 and 53 percent for 2010.

Meanwhile, the proportion of second- and third-loan cases among Singaporeans and PRs who were granted private home loans also declined.

The analysis is based on private home loan data provided by 16 of CBS’ 26 member banks.

Source : PropertyGuru – 2012 May 28