It is official. CPF Board just endorsed Property Soul’s 3-3-5 rule. The statutory board recently published an article “How to use the 3-3-5 rule to consider if you can afford your new home” in its “Are You Ready?” portal. “Are You Ready?” is an initiative by the CPF Board to educate Singaporeans on how to plan for major financial decisions at different stages of their … [Read more...]
Why housing affordability is more than your salary
Dollars and Sense recently published a blog post titled “Here’s the salary you need to earn to determine affordability of these homes in Singapore”. The writer of the article has the good intention to show readers what type of housing they can afford based on their monthly salary. However, income is only part of the whole picture when it comes to deciding whether you can … [Read more...]
MAS makes commentators look foolish again
Last Thursday, Managing Director of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Ravi Menon mentioned at the annual report media conference that it is “not time yet to ease the cooling measures”, “they remain necessary” and “easing the measures now would send a wrong signal”. Sorry, cooling measures are to stay Menon cited two reasons for the decision: 1) Good pick-up of … [Read more...]
Keeping the Singapore property dream alive
Business Times published a property feature yesterday that highlights ‘the seven year itch’ of Singaporeans to invest in properties. The property itch is in the DNA of Singaporeans who like new launches and equate owning properties with being rich. Properties represent a significant portion in the wealth of Singaporeans. The performance of the local property market is a … [Read more...]
3 reasons why adjustments to property measures is not a good sign
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...]