Singapore raised down payment requirements for second mortgages and boosted sales taxes to curb property speculation, sending shares of the city’s biggest developers down the most in 11 months.
Individuals with more than one mortgage can borrow up to 60% of a property’s value, down from 70%, while the stamp duty on homes and land sold within one year will rise more than fivefold, the government said in a statement yesterday.
Singapore will raise down payment requirements for second mortgages and extend the period homeowners must hold properties to avoid a sales tax as it steps up efforts to curb speculation after prices rose to a record.
Individuals with more than one mortgage can only borrow up to 60% of a property’s value, down from 70%, the government said in a statement yesterday. On loans to entities other than individuals it will be reduced to 50% from 60%. Sellers will now have to pay a stamp duty for all homes and land sold within four years of purchase, from three years.
Singapore will raise down payments for second mortgages and extend holding periods for properties starting tomorrow after home prices rose to a record last quarter, intensifying the nation’s efforts to curb speculation.
Individuals who hold more than one mortgage can only borrow up to 60% of a property’s value, versus 70% previously, the government said in a statement today, while loans to entities other individuals will be cut to 50% from 60%. A seller’s stamp duty will apply to all residential units and land sold within four years of purchase, from three years now.
Zillow’s reports:The Zillow Home Value Index has now fallen 26% since its peak in June 2006. That’s more than the 25.9% decline in the Depression-era years between 1928 and 1933. November marked the 53rd consecutive month of home value declines, …
MarketWatch writes today: The non-seasonally-adjusted S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home-price index fell 1.3% on a monthly basis and 0.8% on an annual basis in October. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 0.6% decline i…
With current housing affordability in Singapore stretched and close to one standard deviation above mean levels, demand for private homes could taper off if household income doesn’t accelerate in tandem with property prices, says CLSA.
There’s a double-dip in housing prices (and see this and this).As CNN points outs: U.S. home prices fell 2% in the third quarter after having gained steadily since early 2009.The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index has recorded gains in four of th…
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to file a case in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam today. A CBI spokesman said a letter from Defence Ministry asking the agency to conduct the probe has been received. “CBI is in process of collection of relevant records and documents and “no case has been [...]
Zillow’s Stan Humphries said:The length and depth of the current housing recession is rivaling the Great Depression’s real estate downturn, and, with encouraging signs fading, will easily eclipse it in the coming months.During the Great Depression,…
Housing loan applications in Singapore have fallen by 20-25% since the government introduced measures to cool the city-state’s residential market, DBS <DBSM.SI> CEO Piyush Gupta said on Thursday.
Singapore announced restrictions to cool its property market on Aug 30. The measures included a reduction in the amount those with existing mortgages could borrow to buy second properties and extending a stamp duty on those selling property within three years of purchase.
TEE International says it has won a BND 147.5 million ($146.3 million) contract by Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) to build 1,500 houses within 18 months in Tutong District under the National Housing Scheme of Brunei Darussalam.
With this contract, the group’s total outstanding order book for engineering projects currently stands at $388.7 million.
The group expects the Brunei housing contract to contribute significantly and positively to its performance in FY2011 and FY2012.
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Sent to me by a friend on the Hill.From the office of: Fourteenth District, MichiganCongressman John Conyers, Jr.Chairman, House Judiciary CommitteeDean, Congressional Black CaucusPress ReleaseConyers and Kilpatrick Demand Lenders Extend Housing Forecl…
Singapore private home prices yet to reflect full impact of recent housing-market curbs, despite new official data showing price moderation, analysts say, according to Dow Jones.
According to government flash estimates, 3Q10 private home prices +3.1% on quarter vs +5.3% in 2Q10, +5.6% in 1Q10. CB Richard Ellis Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho attributes rise to strong sales momentum in July, August, but notes property market slowed down from September.
It’s a fact that the affordable housing market is something most real estate developers have to deal with in the UK at some point. It’s the government conditions that require that low income dwellings be proposed as part of the approval process of high end housing.
Investors underestimating impact of Singapore government’s efforts to concurrently increase residential land supply, dampen housing demand, says UBS, according to Dow Jones.
UBS tips 30% fall in transaction volume, decline of up to 10% mass-market home prices by end-2011. Cites slowdown in growth of Singapore permanent residents (PRs), sharp increase in new supply of public-housing flats as key risks to overall residential demand.
Latest measures by Singapore to cool housing market expected to result in lower sales volume in short term, but won’t have significant impact on home prices, says Citigroup, according to Dow Jones.
“With the wide spread between rental yields of mass-market properties at above 4% and mortgage rates as low as 1%, such properties remain a highly attractive investment vehicle for many seeking higher returns than bank deposits,” says Citi.
Why are home sales plummeting?On the surface, it is because the government’s tax-credit for first-time home buyers lapsed in April. It takes a couple of months lag-time between buyer purchase decisions and the actual close of escrow, and so the expir…
