SSD | Lush Dream Home

Tag Archives: SSD

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.

Comments Off on Sentosa condos, bungalows feeling the blues

Posted in Cooling Measures, Luxury Property, Sentosa Property

Tagged seller's stamp duty, Sentosa condos, Sentosa Cove, SSD, TDSR

Potential sellers unlikely to lower price expectations

Posted on 3 Oct 2014 | Comments Off

Prices of private homes in Singapore continue to cool but at a slower pace as shown by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)’s flash estimate for Q3 2014.

According to Colliers International’s Director of Research and Advisory Chia Siew Chuin, many sellers are not in any urgent need to dispose their properties as many have already gained from earlier property trades. Some may even be still sitting on paper profits if they made their investments in the earlier up-cycle.

“Many owners of private residential properties today have benefitted from the robust capital appreciation since 2005. Except for the short blip during the global financial crisis, which did not take long to recover, property owners/investors have generally enjoyed more than attractive profits in the last nine years or so,” she said.

As potential sellers expect there is still some time before interest rates increase, and due to their current financial muscle, they are unlikely to lower their price expectations. At the same time, these sellers are likely to time their exit in order to minimise or to avoid paying Seller’s Stamp Duties (SSD).

Additionally, developers have enjoyed the gains in the residential property price run-up from 2005. Chia said, “With the amount of profits made during the boom years, some of them have the financial power to maintain current prices or else offer moderate discounts. Potential buyers are well aware of the current downtrend in prices and they refrain from making purchases now, in expectation of even lower prices in the near term.”

These factors explain this price stalemate in the current market, she said, as reflected in URA’s latest flash estimates.