Many property market players were disappointed over the absence of any housing measures in the recently announced budget 2016 of Singapore.
The Strait Times reported that Singapore's real estate market has been experiencing a sluggish performance which prompts investors to put their money overseas instead. Some hoped to hear the relaxation of additional buyer's stamp duty so they can acquire an investment property, but none was mentioned.
According to analysts, if the measures were eased, those who want to invest in additional properties would have helped in lifting buying activities in the country, including foreign investment. Such would also spill some benefits to the other sectors such as tourism, rental and commercial.
Further to The Strait Times report, the lack of measures for the real estate industry has pulled down demand for new housing and home values have significantly dropped. As a result, there were thousands of uncompleted units yet to be sold and the vacancy rate reached 8.1 percent, the highest in 10 years. With that, developers have been urging the government to lift the current cooling measures and to find ways on how to boost foreign investments in the country.
Bloomberg reported that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said relaxing current property measures will be "premature" but assured that the government "will monitor property market developments closely." He echoed what National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said last month about lifting the curbs too early because of a fear of a market rebound.
The Singaporean government introduced some measures in 2009 in a bid to slow down demand from foreign investors amid low-interest rates. These include higher taxes for property acquisitions and debt repayment costs cap.
Despite the drop in home prices for nine quarters now, Bloomberg noted that Singapore has ranked second next to Hong Kong among cities where it is expensive to buy luxury properties.
