Singapore’s property market may be set for an uptrend in 2012, even as the market comes to terms with the cooling measures introduced in December 2011, according to a local property website.
iProperty.com Singapore arrived at this conclusion based on initial enquiry figures from the first two months of 2012.
Data from email and SMS leads generated by the portal showed a 60 per cent jump in February 2012, compared with the same month in 2011.
eLeads refer to the enquiries sent by property hunters to the agents or developers advertising their property listings on the website. These enquiries are then sent to the agents and developers promoting their properties on the website.
While the increase in enquiries may not necessarily translate into immediate transactions, iProperty.com believes the jump in numbers shows that property is still on the minds of many people.
The portal said this view is reinforced by its online poll on the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) measure implemented by the government late last year.
Opinion is evenly divided among the 647 respondents as to whether the ABSD will be effective in cooling the market. About 50 per cent agree that it will dampen demand from foreign investors.
Other respondents felt that the measure will need to be firmly implemented with immigration policies to work and that Singapore’s economic potential and stability far outweigh the additional costs of buying property.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 9 Mar 2012