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Govt may review cooling measures by year-end

Posted on 3 Jul 2015 | Comments Off

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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Posted in Cooling Measures

Tagged ABSD, additional buyer’s stamp duty, Cooling measures, Property curbs, seller's stamp duty, Singapore residential market, Singapore Residential Property, SSD, TDSR, Total Debt Servicing Ratio

Sentosa condos, bungalows feeling the blues

Posted on 7 Nov 2014 | Comments Off

Prices of bungalows and high-end condominiums in Sentosa have fallen significantly due to the series of cooling measures by the government, according to media reports.

But the most debilitating factors are the Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD), tax of up to 18 percent for foreign property buyers and the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework.

Under the SSD rules, all sellers are required to pay 16 percent of a property’s value if they sell it within a year of its purchase. Foreigners also need to pay a buyer’s stamp of 15 percent in addition of basic buyer’s stamp duty of around three percent, while the TDSR limits the loan quantum purchasers can get to 60 percent of their monthly income.

As a result, current prices of luxury condos at Sentosa are hovering near their record-low since end-2006 based on 15 deals, said Maybank Kim Eng.

Residential properties bought after 2006 and sold off in the past 12 months posted price drops of between five percent and 21 percent estimated its Singapore-based analyst Ng Wee Siang.

But the values of some repossessed condos auctioned off by banks in early-2014, such as two units at the Turquoise, dived by as much as 45 percent compared to their purchase price in 2007.

Chestertons’ Managing Director Donald Han noted the most affected segment consists of high-end homes bigger than 2,000 sq ft and costing from $4 million to $5 million

In fact, URA data showed an 11,280 sq ft bungalow at Treasure Island in Sentosa Cove lost over 50 percent of its peak-value when it changed hands this year, while a 7,341 sq ft property was sold for 39 percent less than the record-high of $3,214 psf.