Government's Latest Move To Curb Property Speculation

[blue_skies 3]

oh yes, understand. thanks for explaining. ya, the monitoring is time consuming, but i do keep track of small expenses too cos they add up (little drops of watter, little grains of sand, etc etc ...) before iphone and excel i use 555 notebook. now excel and iphone app easier to keep track. it's amazing how cutting out a kopi o or 2 a day from the coffeeshop or snacks for the kids can save over a month

Hahaha! Very rarely see people using 555 notebook (among adults) these days. My husband is loyal supporter of 555 notebook (even until now). I remember him scribbling notes into his 555 notebook when we were house hunting. So funny coz the notebook is sooooo small.

[therat 18]

talk abt 555 notebook.

I remember I receive a resume cover page written in 555 notebook.

[bepgof 20]

Shanghai curb 1 household to 1 property.

HK stops policy for immigrants (mainly china)purchasing pty in hk to become resident.

MBT now worries the "buying spin" wave will move to singapore? If it does, how huh?

Edited October 14, 2010 by bepgof

[Warrior88 0]

Don't think govt will do like the Aussies. It contradicts Singapore policy. Foreign investment has traditionally been welcomed in Singapore. Tax Free Haven. Under OECD blacklist.

Think they just got out of this list this year, after signing more than 12 agreement.

Foreign investor love Singapore

Aussie style

Tough rules about what type of property foreigners can buy – Temporary residents now need permission to buy homes and if they decide to leave Australia, they cannot keep the property, they must sell it on. Foreigners investing from abroad will be limited to buying only new properties.

[forgotten 1]

I think GCT and his gang will still continue to let foreigners "buy air" like what GCT said to media earlier. Good source of stamp fees etc to govt.

Edited October 14, 2010 by forgotten

[Warrior88 0]

I think GCT and his gang will still continue to let foreigners "buy air" like what GCT said to media earlier. Good source of stamp fees etc to govt.

Peter Ong IRAS head will grab MBT by the collar and says, you dun want your $2.7 mil arr....

Casino Tax is extras but dun forget last year we use our past reserves $4b. Dun siow siow, want to retire ah.

[random_username 0]

talk abt 555 notebook.

I remember I receive a resume cover page written in 555 notebook.

wow ... well, it caught your attention effectively and you remember it till this day .....

[therat 18]

wow ... well, it caught your attention effectively and you remember it till this day .....

ya.

what is the chances you will receive a resume in 555 notebook format.

[Warrior88 0]

ya.

what is the chances you will receive a resume in 555 notebook format.

1 in 6 million Hey! you in HR ? Got job for me ?

[therat 18]

1 in 6 million Hey! you in HR ? Got job for me ?

no la..

not in HR

[blue_skies 3]

Just some thoughts to share, and wondering how RT forummers feel about the various measures taken to curb property speculation here in Singapore.

The ruling that has been the biggest stumbling block (at least in my case), is the loan to value (LTV) that the govt has passed for the purchase of second or subsequent property. Initially it was revised down from 80% to 70% in Aug 2010, and then reduced further again to 60% in Jan 2011.

Every Saturday when going thru the Classified ads, I was initially browsing through the section "City & South West pte apts for sale", then when the LTV was revised to 70%, I moved to "West pte apts for sale", and after that, had to shift focus to "Balestier, Geylang" (after the 60% LTV rule was passed in Jan 2011). Not that I have anything against condos in the Balestier, Geylang area, but then, I realised I could only afford a mickey mouse unit in a not-so-central / popular part of Singapore.

I explored various options on how to use this sum of money to invest in another property here in Singapore. Even a 2 bedrm 99 yr leasehold apt in the surbaban areas would have cost between $800-900k. In my opinion, it was absurdly expensive, but what can we do? If HDB prices hold steady, pte ppty prices also have to remain steady or head upwards.

In the last couple of weeks, I have explored other options and finally decided that I'm taking the money out of Singapore. If I can't buy a property here, I'll use my money overseas

Would you also bring your money out of Singapore and buy a property elsewhere?

[parry14 0]

Absolutely agreed that prices are way too high. I suppose if you can find a good property and also relatively familiar with the rules overseas where it may be then it is fine.

Otherwise I would wait as interest cannot be this low forever and I strongly believe many ppl will be caught out. Even an EC is costing $800+ psf in punggol so I just dont understand how government is helping ppl to own their homes even with the grant thrown in.

My take is to be patient in this market and not to rush in unnecessarily... Good Luck in your hunt

[bepgof 20]

Comparatively, Singapore property is much cheaper than the similar nature in Taiwan, HK, Japan, some cities in China, some cities in India, Jarkatar, etc etc if you make a study. MBT keeps mentioning homes in Singapore are affordable.

As long as price index for respective zones is kept within +10%yoy, (cpi 4.5% already making noise!) gov will "let the mkt does the job".

Unless "extra rich" will consider oversea property purchase, but yet many other factors to be considered leh.

- Political stability.

- Community security

- Taxation structure

- Stay/rent? etc etc

Absolutely agreed that prices are way too high. I suppose if you can find a good property and also relatively familiar with the rules overseas where it may be then it is fine.

Otherwise I would wait as interest cannot be this low forever and I strongly believe many ppl will be caught out. Even an EC is costing $800+ psf in punggol so I just dont understand how government is helping ppl to own their homes even with the grant thrown in.

My take is to be patient in this market and not to rush in unnecessarily... Good Luck in your hunt

Edited March 23, 2011 by bepgof

[blue_skies 3]

Actually don't need to be "extra-rich" to consider overseas ppty

999 yr leasehold studio / 1 bedrm units in central London (size abt 350 sq ft) are going for about GBP 170,000. At the current exchange rate (1 GBP = 2.035 SGD), it works out to SGD 346,000. OCBC Bank currently provides up to 70% loans for UK properties (they are the only bank in Singapore offering such a loan right now). The loan is taken in SGD based on prevailing exchange rates at point of disbursement so it's not too "scary", i.e. won't fluctuate over the years based on exchange rates. And it's based on SOR + X% (currently 0.18%+ 2.5% = 2.68%).

Cash outlay (based on purchase price GBP 170,000 and buying GBP t/t rate 2.035) would be:

30% downpayment: SGD 104,000

3% UK stamp duty*: SGD 10,500

Lawyers fees: approx SGD 4,000

Total: SGD 118,500

Factor in another SGD 20,000 for up and down in exchange rate and incidental costs, comes up to about SGD 138,500.

*Stamp duty is 4% if purchase price is more than GBP 500,000.

70% loan would be about SGD 245,000

At 3% interest per year for 25 yr loan, mthly instalment is approx SGD1,200

Rental for these units is about 250 - 300 GBP/week (SGD 2000 - 2400).

Maintenance, etc abt SGD 500/mth

Ppty agt mgmt fees abt SGD 300/mth

So you take home abt SGD 1,200 - 1,600/mth.

If you get a unit in central London near the universities, no problem finding tenants. If students vacate during summer holidays, rent out to tourists. Of course you'd need to do the sums for other expenses like repairs, taxes (it's 20% income tax in UK, and the VAT in UK is 17.5% - that's the equivalent of S'pore's GST). But I don't think it's impossible to own a overseas ppty. Depending on how you calculate your rental yield, it may not seem as attractive as other properties in S'pore. But it does offer an alternative to local property investment if you have limited cash.

I think every investment comes with its own fair share of risks too, so you are really banking on the low exchange rate when you buy a UK ppty now, and hoping too that the exchange rate will go up in 5-10 yrs time, plus capital appreciation.

As a guide, a 99 yr leasehold studio apt in central London (Zone 1) 10 yrs ago was about GBP 100,000 and is now worth abt GBP 200,000. But exchange rates 10 yrs ago were almost 1 GBP = 3 SGD.

Just my two cents worth to share

Edited March 29, 2011 by blue_skies

[pantieileen 2]

Some of my searches over the last 3-6months while looking for a 2nd home (vacation/retirement)

Bangkok properties : Sathorn, Sukhumvit, Silom, Siam which is considered like our Tanglin, River Valley, Orchard price of 2bedroom units (900-1000sqft) goes for about 400k-600k sgd depending on how luxurious the apt is

Cheaper areas (don't know the names) but about 3-4 BTS stops fromthese 4"S" areas mentioned can get for about 60k SGD.

Both comparing apple to apple, service apts, units are furnished and there's housekeeping services (sorry i can't cook/clean to save myself)

-ve point : rumours that bangkok will flood in duno x number of years (maybe i die already?), rental doesn't seem to be very easy, some units i seen in july still for sale or rent in jan

+ve point : low cost of living, good retirement or vacation home to consider, can easier take bank loans, close to SGP

Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines haven't explored yet coz i like to eat pork

NYC properties : about 800k-1200k usd for small 3bedroom or big 2bedroom or big loft. Those i saw at 2nd Ave, 3rd Ave, some slightly off Park Ave but definitely not west side. I didn't feel very safe when i was somewhere in 86th or 88th west subway station. Felt like i was going to be mugged or shot in the next minute.

To be fair, i only saw condos and not co-ops. I really like units facing Central park but those even in upper west side have great view but i don't feel safe so out.

-ve point : rental yield doesn't seem fantastic when i factored in high maintenance cost (doorman). not all condos have pool facilities, their concept of condos are quite different from ours, some got no tennis courts, swimming pool etc even if got, some are indoors, not easy to take bank loan

+ve point : no tax on shopping for clothes, USD quite low these days, family in NYC, great weather during spring and fall

California Chino Hills properties : 350k-500k usd for 2acres land but only 3000sqft buildup, single and double storey, 4bedroom 4bathroom or 4bedroom 3bedroom units. This area has great weather, up in the hills and great view of the entire valley. Population of about 30% asians, still less than Silicon valley

-ve : no rental yield, no public transport, chance of mountain lions, snakes roaming around

+ve : great retirement homes but no medical coverage when i grow old

Tokyo : Actually i saw some units in Tokyo, not in greater tokyo hor. i saw units around Shinjuku national park (shinjuku gyomae) facing the park. sorry i'm a sucker for parks about 1.2M for 800sqft. So actually not as expensive as Singapore's central region. The last i saw was in Oct 2010

-ve : high cost of living...even more expensive than NYC

+ve : initially i tot Tokyo is a great place to live (don't talk about cost), fresh air...then now earthquake so i think twice

Saw some units in London coz we have family living in central london but didn't like the pace of living as compared to NYC or California. Ok, it's always raining when i'm there and i find that people in London aren't as friendly as USA and sorry, i'm not really a financial expert, i know **** about SOR or interest rates so if can rent good, cannot rent its ok attitude. I only like viewing properties as a hobby. Currently looking at Chiang Mai and boliao look at Spanish properties....

Edited March 29, 2011 by pantieileen