Last Friday, a press release was jointly issued by Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore to make adjustments to the Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) and Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework, with effect from 11 March 2017. 1) The holding period liable for SSD is revised from 4 to 3 years. There is also a 4 percent … [Read more...]
Should Singaporeans be grateful for property cooling measures?
Singapore’s Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong said in a Bloomberg TV interview that the government hasn’t “made any movement in the budget” to relax the property cooling measures because “demand remains very resilient” and “property volume in terms of transactions have increased and not decreased”. Sacrificing housing affordability for foreign … [Read more...]
Trust is a scarce commodity in properties
In properties, market confidence determines the boom and doom of the industry. To property buyers and investors, trust can make or break a deal. In this digital world, trust is more valued than ever. Unfortunately, trust is increasingly rare to be found in industry stakeholders and the mass media. Have something up your sleeve? It is interesting to see how the … [Read more...]
4 reasons why Hong Kong’s new stamp duty can’t save Singapore’s property market
Bloomberg just published an article on ‘Hong Kong Property Tax May Help End Singapore's Housing Slump’ (Bloomberg, Jan 19). The journalist cites the remarks of a Cushman & Wakefield spokesperson that foreign buyers may turn to Singapore after the 15 percent increase (30 percent in total) of stamp duty in Hong Kong. This can benefit Singapore to end the slide of property … [Read more...]
3 investment lessons from the movie Me Before You
I was watching the movie Me Before You on a flight. There was a heartbreaking scene when Will Traynor insisted on ending his life despite all the efforts of Louisa Clark to show him that there were still reasons to continue living. “But...I need it to end here. No more chair. No more pneumonia. No more burning limbs. No more pain and tiredness and waking up every morning … [Read more...]