The much-awaited third round of cooling measures were finally announced yesterday but with a big difference - the current set have a lot more bite than the earlier ones, which were largely symbolic. Of the measures, the 70-per-cent cap on loan-to-property-value for second mortgages is the most significant as it addresses for the first time the problem of excessive liquidity in the market. Helping to soak...
General
The slew of measures introduced by the Government yesterday appears aimed at the property market speculator and should provide some relief to the genuine home-buyer from sky-high prices. Developers, while openly welcoming the measures, will surely be cursing under their breath. Also rumbling will be those holding property stocks which will take a little beating, especially initially. True, the measures...
Banks see problems in extra checks needed for home loan applications New government measures to cool the property market and curb speculation in the resale market for HDB flats could cause headaches for banks here due to the extra checks needed for home-loan applicants, but the impact on loans growth will likely be small, a check by BT shows. 'Banks will certainly run into problems for any pre-existing...
Property developer Far East Organization has launched for lease almost half of the medical suites at its upcoming Novena Specialist Center to meet the growing demand in heathcare tourism. Far East's executive director for property services, Mr G L Yap, said yesterday at the launch of the 31 of its total 69 suites: "The supply of purpose-built medical suites has not kept up with demand. Occupancy at these...
Mainboard-listed United Industrial Corporation (UIC) plans to redevelop the UIC Building at 5 Shenton Way. The company has paid an estimated development charge of S$160.1 million to the Urban Redevelopment Authority for the proposed redevelopment. This is based on a 60 per cent residential and 40 per cent commercial mix with a gross floor area of 926,589 square feet (86,083 square metres). UIC said the...
Market watchers said the new rules requiring private property owners to sell their homes within six months of buying an HDB flat will go some way in cooling the red-hot resale market. New rules on second home loans may also moderate demand somewhat. Some analysts expect the rules restricting dual home ownership to have an "almost immediate" impact on resale demand. Chris Koh, director of Dennis Wee...
Market watchers are not surprised by the government's move on Monday to cool the housing market, and some even said that it is long overdue. On average, analysts expect the latest measures to dampen private home sales by about 20 per cent for the rest of the year. And developers may also hold back on new launches, and turn to preview sales instead. The relaxation of some housing policies will make...
A condominium that saw a spike in transactions in the first week of August was the 910-unit freehold City Square Residences, completed early last year. Located along Kitchener Road, it’s right next door to the newly opened City Square Mall and the Farrer Park MRT station. Across the street is the 24-hour Mustafa Centre, a popular shopping mall with locals and tourists. City Square Residences comprises...
The government said Monday that it will increase the holding period for imposition of Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD). The SSD will be raised from the current one year to three years. Another measure will impact those who have more than one outstanding housing loan. Property buyers who already have one or more outstanding housing loans at the time of the new housing purchase will have to pay more money...
Industry data showed that medical tourism in Asia is expected to be worth some US$4 billion by the year 2012. And Singapore will be looking to capture a share of that with the opening of a new US$258.5 million medical centre next January. Its landlord said the Novena Specialist Centre will work with its neighbours to offer tourist-friendly features. Medical tourists to Singapore grew from some 570,000...