Singapore's luxury home market will bear brunt of new curbs
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Overseas property hunters may pull back.
By Property Report
Singapore’s recently announced cooling measures will have their biggest impact on luxury residential property seekers, a leading market observer told Bloomberg.
“More foreign buyers have been eyeing Singapore’s luxury homes for the past year, but they may now take a back seat,” Christine Li, head of research for Singapore at Cushman & Wakefield Inc, was quoted as saying.
Sales for luxury homes are projected to drop between 30 and 40 percent over the next two quarters, the consultancy stated.
This will be in response to the recent hike of the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) from 15 to 20 percent on foreign property seekers and from 15 percent to 25 percent on entity buyers.
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Overseas buyers accounted for a third of luxury property deals in the city-state last year, Bloomberg reported.
In addition to higher stamp duties, the government also tightened Loan-to-Value (LTV) limits on home purchases.
“The government will continue to monitor the property market and adjust our policies as necessary, to maintain a stable and sustainable property market,” warned the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Development and the Monetary Authority of Singapore in a joint statement.
Singapore private home prices posted a quarterly growth of 3.4 percent in the second quarter of 2018, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) revealed Friday.
Despite the new curbs, the property market overall is “still positioned for growth,” JLL Singapore research director Ong Teck Hui said. “Singapore’s economic outlook remains firm and Singapore aggregated household balances remain healthy and flush with cash.”
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