At least one real estate agency thinks the immediate reaction to the latest cooling measures will be a slowdown in the private property market.
CEO of PropNex Realty Mr Mohamed Ismail said he expects a price correction of approximately 15 to 20 per cent in the central core region and a correction of 10 to 15 per cent in the mass market segment in the next six months.
Propnex also expects transaction volume to dive by as much as 40 per cent in the core central region and by as much as 20 per cent in the mass market segment.
Under the latest changes, foreign buyers of private properties in Singapore will now have to fork out 10 per cent more in stamp duty while permanent residents and Singaporeans are also affected with an increased stamp duty on their second and third properties respectively.
Propnex said the new measures could have been targeted to preserve affordable pricing in the mass market segment – homes costing less than S$2 million where prices have surpassed S$1,000 psf.
It argues that having a blanket policy will impact the high-end market which has been the investment interest of the foreign buyers.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 8 Dec 2011