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Rental market largely unaffected by foreigner quotas

Posted on 18 Jun 2014 | Comments Off

It has been six months since authorities imposed quotas on subletting HDB flats to foreigners and only about one percent of Housing Board neighbourhoods have reached the limit as of June, according to HDB in media reports.

Notably, this is about the same proportion affected by the policy when it was implemented in January.

Since then, only 11 percent of the flats in a block or eight percent of the flats in a neighbourhood can be wholly sublet to foreigners or Permanent Residents (PRs). However, Malaysians are exempt from the restrictions due to cultural similarities.

Additionally, the rule does not apply to renting out rooms.

The measure is aimed at preventing the “formation of foreigner enclaves in HDB estates, and maintain the Singaporean character of our HDB heartland,” said HDB.

Property agents noted although the overall rental market has been cool, it has been largely unaffected by the new measure unless they are focusing on desirable areas, such as near MRT stations in the west.

“Most of the blocks that are more popular near the MRT are affected,” said Dennis Wee Realty agent Jimmy Chua.

Century 21’s CEO Ku Swee Yong expects the quotas to affect Jurong East, where two hospitals, with over 4,000 healthcare workers, are set to be completed in a year.

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Posted in HDB, Rental / Lease

Tagged Foreigners, HDB, Permanent residents, subletting HDB flats

S’poreans outpace foreigners in private homes market

Posted on 22 May 2013 | Comments Off

Private home sales involving Singaporean buyers rose in April compared to deals made by foreigners including permanent residents (PRs).

Notably, 1,528 caveats were lodged by Singaporeans for private home purchases, a 62 percent increase from March while 405 were lodged by foreigners, a rise of 16.4 percent, The Business Times reported.

The hike among Singaporeans could be attributed to the slew of new launches in March, especially in the suburban mass market segment, said Alice Tan, Research Head at Knight Frank.

These projects appealed more to Singaporeans, especially first-time buyers who are unaffected by the cooling measures. Moreover, housing options unveiled by developers in March and exercised by buyers in April with caveats lodged could have contributed to the rise.

Overall, the number of caveats lodged for private home purchases dropped to 5,721 in Q1 this year from 8,725 in the previous quarter. Caveats lodged by Singaporeans fell 36.6 percent quarter-on-quarter compared to the 25.3 percent decline for foreigners.

Nonetheless, Tan expects the proportion of Singaporean buyers to increase in Q2 and Q3 as they continue to look for homes at new projects launching over this period.

“Conversely, the share of foreign buyers is projected to decline, as they are affected by the higher purchasing cost (higher additional buyer’s stamp duty rates) and would adopt a more measured approach before investing in the Singapore residential property market,” she said.

However, foreigners will remain “attracted to Singapore’s stable fundamentals and their interest for private homes would stay”.

Source – PropGuru – 22 May 2013