Market Report | Lush Dream Home

Pricier units making up bigger share of home sales

Posted on 1 Aug 2009 | Comments Off

REFLECTING larger buying appetites and more mid- to high-end launches in the market, the proportion of private homes sold at over $1.5 million has risen by six percentage points in two months.

Analysing 10,583 caveats captured by the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Realis system from January to June, property consultancy DTZ found that 18 per cent lodged were for apartments in this price range.

From January to April, private homes costing more than $1.5 million accounted for a smaller 12 per cent of the 4,401 caveats lodged. There has been a ’spillover of buying momentum from the mass market to the mid and upper-tiers’, said DTZ head of South-east Asia research Chua Chor Hoon.

Chesterton Suntec International head of research and consultancy Colin Tan also said that more centrally located properties were introduced. ‘By virtue of the location, prices will go up.’ Continue reading →

If speculation is excessive …

Posted on 31 Jul 2009 | Comments Off

Govt will do what is necessary, says Mah. Such steps could include upping loan-to-value ratio or levying a speculation tax, say analysts.

WHILE the current exuberance in the property market has “some element of speculation involved”, it is not excessive. And if does get to that point, the Government ” will take whatever action is necessary” to prevent excessive speculation, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan (picture) yesterday. He was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony marking a construction phase of Tower 1 at the Marina Bay Financial Centre (Phase 1).

Analysts told Today that if the Government decides to take any action, it could be anything from increasing home loan-to-value ratio to introducing a tax specific to property speculation. Industry veteran Nicholas Mak noted that during the 1996 property boom, property sellers were taxed on one-third to 100 per cent of net gain. Continue reading →