I have been posting and commenting about rising interest rates on my Property Soul Facebook page since August last year. The first country that raised its interest rate was South Korea, followed by Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Brazil, The Czech Republic, Singapore, Pakistan, Hungary, Chile, and finally, the US. The next coming up will be Australia and Canada. In the … [Read more...]
Gloomy days ahead for new home sales
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) published February’s data on "private residential units sold by developers” or new home sales on Tuesday (March 15). For last month, developers only managed to sell 527 units. The sales volume is the lowest in 21 months, with 21.9 percent drop from 673 units in January. It is also a 66 percent plunge from 1,547 units sold last November – … [Read more...]
4 big questions of Singapore’s wealth taxes
Blackbox Research surveyed 764 people on Singapore’s Budget 2022. The results showed that two in five respondents “highly favored” tax hikes for top income earners and higher duties for luxury cars. The poll didn’t mention the type of home or personal income of the respondents. But those who “highly favored” raise in taxes are probably not targeted in the new round of … [Read more...]
Budget 2022 is another nightmare of landlords
Last Friday (Feb 18) the government announced a list of progressive tax raises in Budget 2022. They aim to generate revenues for the Inland Revenue of Singapore (IRAS) in the coming three years. When I told my friends and relatives overseas about Singapore's latest budget, they all reacted with disbelief. At present, their countrymen are complaining about runaway inflation. … [Read more...]
Property cooling measures, here we go again!
Yesterday (December 15) right before midnight, the government announced new property cooling measures, with higher ABSD (Additional Buyer's Stamp Duties), lowered LTV (Loan-to-Value) and tightened TDSR (Total Debt Servicing Ratio). The predictable pattern to impose new curbs We had the last round of cooling measures just three years ago in July 2018. Let's recall the … [Read more...]