THE property market control measures announced yesterday were not the strongest weapons that could be deployed. In an extreme situation, reviving a property capital gains tax pegged, say, to a five-year sliding scale, would rank high as an option. It is 'neat'. Speculators and investors alike would be left in no doubt that real estate cannot be permitted to develop into a casino play when home ownership is...
General
String of steps to douse speculation; prices and sales of mass-market private homes may be hit The Prime Minister had hinted on Sunday that major moves were afoot to cool the property market. Even so, when the Ministry of National Development (MND) spelt out the measures yesterday, several market-watchers did a double-take. Many of them expect private home prices and sales to be hit. Of all of MND's new...
THE government has just announced the latest instalment in its gentle therapy of a series of calibrated measures to try and rein in the acceleration in home prices. Is this strategy working? Or should we revisit the sledgehammer approach of May 1996 when a whole slew of anti-speculation measures were rolled out at one go? Thus far, the measures introduced since September last year do not seem to have had...
More land has been released Tuesday for private residential homes. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) as well as the Housing and Development Board (HDB) announced that five residential sites are released for sale. Together, the five 99-year leasehold sites can potentially yield about 2,045 units. URA said it has released four residential sites for sale at namely Petir Road, Alexandra Road, Tanah...
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) put up for sale 3,032 flats Tuesday. This is the largest supply of flats in a single launch to date. 1,408 new flats in Yishun will be offered under the Build to Order (BTO) system. The project is known as the Yishun Riverwalk, and its flats are located at the cross-section of Yishun Ring Road, Yishun Street 31 and Yishun Avenue 6. The units range from studio...
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has reiterated the need for an income cut off limit when it comes to housing schemes. Speaking to some 100 people at a post-National Day Rally feedback session organised by REACH, Mr Mah noted though, that it's not always cut and dry when it comes to dealing with the sandwich class. These are first time home-buyers who earn more than $8,000. Their incomes are...
BARELY seven months after the Government imposed stamp duty for residential property sellers, the policy is being tweaked to further quell speculation. Experts say that while this measure might increase costs for short-term speculators, it would have a limited impact on genuine long-term investors. The Ministry of National Development (MND) announced yesterday that stamp duty will be imposed on those who...
IF YOU already have a mortgage on a home, you will need more cash on hand to buy a second property - under new rules announced yesterday. Buyers with one or more outstanding housing loans will now have to stump up a downpayment of 30 per cent of the property's price, up from 20 per cent previously. At least 10 per cent must be in cash - up from 5 per cent before - but the remainder can come from their...
Property developer Roxy-Pacific said yesterday that its unit, Mequity, bought Toh Tuck Apartments in an en bloc deal for $33.9 million. The freehold site, located at Toh Tuck Road, is the first collective sale in District 21 - which comprises Upper Bukit Timah and Clementi - this year. The site has an area of 40,449 square feet, a plot ratio of 1.4 and can be built up to five storeys. A development...
The first two rounds of "cooling" measures did not do the trick. Yesterday, the Government moved for the third time in less than 12 months to take the sizzle out of a red-hot property market, with the promise of more curbs if the situation demands. While the measures - which include making second home buyers pay more cash and allowing them to borrow less from banks - are "not unfamiliar", as real estate...