Last week, Centaline Property Agency announced that it is temporarily closing its operations in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, after 11 years in the local market. Centaline is the biggest property agency in Shenzhen. At its peak, the market leader expands into a full force of 380 branches, employing more than a thousand agents. But that is before the Chinese … [Read more...]
More foreign buyers: what it really means
DTZ mentions that foreign buyers snapped up 16% of private homes sold in Q1 this year. It’s the highest since they started the research in 1995. Again, we see a company from the property industry (obviously with vested interest) painting a picture that shows the property market is (and will be supported) by foreigners. DTZ says that foreigners are (and still will be) buying … [Read more...]
Effects of Jan 14, 2011 property cooling measures
Last evening, the government announced another round of cooling measures for the property market, effective 14 January 2011: 1) Holding period of homes liable for Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) increased from 3 to 4 years; 2) SSD rates raised to 16%, 12%, 8% and 4% for homes sold in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year respectively; 3) Loan-To-Value (LTV) limit lowered to 50% on housing … [Read more...]
Property market to drop 50% in 1 to 2 years?
The title of a newspaper article caught my attention this morning, “Property expert says prices may collapse by up to 50 per cent in the next year or two” The reporter is quoting the comment from a 'property expert' at a real estate forum. The reasons given are “rally is not supported and has been too fast, paving for a harder fall”, “it doesn’t make sense to buy in terms of … [Read more...]
Impact of government measures to cool property market
The Singapore Government just announced today 'measures to maintain a stable and sustainable property market', with effect on the same day: 1. Increase the holding period for imposition of Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) from the current one year to three years. 2. For property buyers who already have one or more outstanding housing loans at the time of the new housing … [Read more...]