Issue 302

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 CONTENTS FROM THE

p2 Has the Long Awaited Property Easing

EDITOR
Welcome to the 302th edition of the
Singapore Property Weekly.
Measures Finally Come?
Hope you like it!
p6 Resale Property Transactions
Mr. Propwise
(February 27 March 3)

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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 302

Has the Long Awaited Property Easing Measures

Finally Come?

By Mr. Propwise

It's finally happened - or so it seems. While

steadfastly claiming that the property
measures are here to stay, the government
has finally eased the property cooling
measures. These new measures took effect
from March 11.

So does this mark the bottom of the property

price decline? Read on to find out what I
think.

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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 302
Seller's Stamp Duty holding period
reduction - more than meets the eye
The Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) was payable if
you sold a residential property within four
years of purchase, at progressively lower
rates of 16%/12%/8%/4% if you sold your
property within 1/2/3/4 years of buying it.
The SSD has now been revised to be levied
on holding periods of three years or less, with
the amount to be paid lowered to 12%/8%/4%
if you sell your property within 1/2/3 years of
buying it.
Mr. Propwise's thoughts: The 4-year SSD had
led to a large fall in the number of property
sales within a 4-year window of buying it. The
government's original motivation was to
discourage speculators from "flipping"
properties, but this also led to a significant
reduction in supply in the resale market, and
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hence pushing demand to the new sale
market. The 3-year SSD should lead to a
gradual increase in supply in the resale
market, which based on Economics 101
means that the downward pressure on prices
in the medium term should be increased, i.e.
This policy should be negative on prices.
However, the impact will only be felt in the
medium term as the reduction in the holding
period is not retroactive but will only apply to
purchases going forward. There could also be
some uplift in demand as marginal buyers
who were put off by an effective 4-year
holding period could now be drawn back into
the market given the reduction to a 3-year
period.
Total Debt Servicing Ratio tweak
Previously, the across-the-board application
of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR)
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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 302
threshold of 60% meant that some borrowers
(especially the older folk) found it difficult to
refinance their properties and monetize them.
The new rules are now relaxed so that the
TDSR framework no longer applies to
mortgage equity withdrawal loans with LTV
ratios of 50% and below.
Mr Propwise's thoughts: This new rule gives
an increased flexibility to people with fully or
largely paid up properties (e.g. Retirees) to
get cash out of them (i.e. Borrow against their
equity) from banks. Previously, being unable
to borrow against their properties, this group
might have been forced to sell their properties
to raise cash, thus increasing supply and
pushing down prices. Overall, this policy
should be marginally positive for the market,
although the affected demographic is likely to
be small.
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Stamp duty on companies holding
residential properties
There used to be a loophole on avoiding
paying the property stamp duties including
ABSD whereby residential properties could
be sold by transferring interest in the
company holding them instead of in the
properties directly. This loophole is now being
closed.
Going forward, residential property-holding
entities (PHEs) will also be subject to the
same stamp duties as direct property
transactions when they transfer their equity
interest.
Mr. Propwise's thoughts: This measure does
not really affect individual buyers and sellers
of real estate, but is targeting developers who
had previously tried to skirt around Qualifying
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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 302
Certificate penalties (i.e. Fines on them for
not selling out their properties within a certain
time period) by doing bulk transfers of their
properties via a transfer of equity interest in
the PHEs to related entities or other wealthy
buyers. The net impact could be that
developers will now be more incentivized to
cut prices and sell affected properties to
individual buyers instead of exploiting this
previous loophole.
Overall impact - good for sentiment, but a
marginal impact on supply and effective
demand
I have to say it's surprising that the
government is now slightly relaxing the
measures (although they call it "calibrated
adjustments") given that property prices have
not come down significantly and demand for
new sales is still strong.
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This easing, even thought fairly insignificant,
will fuel the hopes of buyers (and developers
and agents) that a further relaxation of the
measures is on the cards, especially of the
"killer" ABSD and TDSR measures.
This improving sentiment should lead to
better sales in both the new and resale
markets as buyers who were previously
sitting on the fence get encouraged that
we've hit a bottom and come back into the
market.
Is the property bull market back? The stocks
of property developers have risen. Crowds
were seen at the latest launch of Park Place
Residences at Paya Lenard Quarters. But
don't forget we are also facing the prospect of
multiple interest rate increases by the Fed
this year and a weak economy. Let's see how
this plays out.
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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 302
Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Feb 27 Mar 3

Postal Area Transacted Price Postal Area Transacted Price

Project Name Tenure Project Name Tenure
District (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) District (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf)
1 THE SAIL @ MARINA BAY 678 1,280,000 1,888 99 10 LEEDON RESIDENCE 2,110 5,020,000 2,379 FH
1 THE SAIL @ MARINA BAY 614 1,080,000 1,760 99 10 LEEDON RESIDENCE 2,131 4,780,000 2,243 FH
2 ICON 926 1,380,000 1,491 99 10 LOFT@HOLLAND 323 700,000 2,168 FH
3 ASCENTIA SKY 1,012 1,400,000 1,384 99 10 POLLEN & BLEU 872 1,807,000 2,073 99
3 RIVER PLACE 1,055 1,308,000 1,240 99 10 LEEDON RESIDENCE 2,508 5,168,000 2,061 FH
3 QUEENSWAY TOWER 1,292 1,150,000 890 FH 10 POLLEN & BLEU 872 1,768,850 2,029 99
4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 1,830 2,800,000 1,530 99 10 LEEDON RESIDENCE 4,704 9,388,800 1,996 FH
4 THE OCEANFRONT @ SENTOSA COVE 4,865 6,400,000 1,315 99 10 CYAN 1,453 2,800,000 1,927 FH
4 CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY 4,650 3,800,000 817 99 10 ONE CHATSWORTH 3,305 6,300,000 1,906 FH
4 THE INTERLACE 3,875 2,611,000 674 99 10 ONE BALMORAL 1,184 2,231,000 1,884 FH
5 BOTANNIA 1,561 1,950,000 1,249 956 10 GALLOP GABLES 1,733 2,820,000 1,627 FH
5 DOVER PARKVIEW 1,281 1,333,000 1,041 99 10 ALLSWORTH PARK 1,033 1,600,000 1,548 999
5 VISTA PARK 926 847,800 916 99 10 VALLEY PARK 1,808 2,780,000 1,537 999
5 PARK WEST 1,249 980,000 785 99 10 MELROSE PARK 1,701 2,610,000 1,535 999
8 CAVAN SUITES 334 550,000 1,648 FH 10 LEEDON 2 764 1,120,000 1,466 FH
8 MERA SPRINGS 1,066 1,285,000 1,206 FH 10 VALLEY PARK 1,216 1,740,000 1,431 999
8 RACE COURSE 138 570 590,000 1,034 FH 10 THE LEVELZ 786 1,100,000 1,400 FH
9 SCOTTS 28 1,733 3,550,000 2,048 FH 10 KING'S ARCADE 1,475 1,520,000 1,031 FH
9 CENTENNIA SUITES 2,260 4,500,000 1,991 FH 11 NEWTON ONE 1,916 3,050,000 1,592 FH
9 SUITES AT ORCHARD 915 1,600,000 1,749 99 11 RESIDENCES @ EVELYN 1,109 1,755,000 1,583 FH
9 THE PIER AT ROBERTSON 732 1,235,000 1,687 FH 11 SKY@ELEVEN 2,713 4,000,000 1,475 FH
9 PARC EMILY 1,001 1,500,000 1,498 FH 11 28 SHELFORD 1,195 1,590,000 1,331 FH
9 LEONIE GARDENS 1,733 1,800,000 1,039 99 11 THE TREVOSE 969 1,260,000 1,301 99
10 ARDMORE PARK 2,885 8,900,000 3,085 FH 12 AIRSTREAM 474 610,000 1,288 FH

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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 302

Postal Area Transacted Price Postal Area Transacted Price

Project Name Tenure Project Name Tenure
District (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf) District (sqft) Price ($) ($ psf)
12 RIVIERA 38 549 655,000 1,193 999 18 SEASTRAND 710 680,000 957 99
12 TRELLIS TOWERS 1,485 1,670,000 1,124 FH 18 RIS GRANDEUR 1,292 1,150,000 890 FH
12 OLEANDER TOWERS 1,464 1,480,000 1,011 99 19 NAUNG RESIDENCE 861 1,125,000 1,306 999
12 PARC HAVEN 1,044 960,000 919 FH 19 BOATHOUSE RESIDENCES 732 770,000 1,052 99
12 BEACON HEIGHTS 1,109 1,000,000 902 999 19 PARC VERA 786 780,000 993 99
12 ST FRANCIS COURT 1,270 860,000 677 99 19 RIVERSAILS 1,109 1,080,000 974 99
13 D' ALMIRA 1,227 1,270,000 1,035 FH 19 RIVERSOUND RESIDENCE 947 880,000 929 99
14 GUILLEMARD EDGE 549 720,000 1,312 FH 19 THE QUARTZ 1,302 1,180,000 906 99
14 THE WATERINA 1,345 1,600,000 1,189 FH 20 BRADDELL VIEW 1,582 1,220,000 771 99
14 VACANZA @ EAST 807 888,000 1,100 FH 21 THE HILLFORD 506 599,000 1,184 60
14 GROSVENOR VIEW 657 677,000 1,031 FH 21 THE RAINTREE 947 1,080,000 1,140 99
15 THE SEA VIEW 1,410 2,200,000 1,560 FH 21 MEADOWLODGE 1,410 1,560,000 1,106 99
15 PEBBLE BAY 2,626 3,900,000 1,485 99 21 GOODLUCK GARDEN 1,884 1,750,000 929 FH
15 ONE FORT 1,249 1,680,000 1,345 FH 23 HILLVIEW REGENCY 969 830,000 857 99
15 COSTA RHU 1,399 1,800,000 1,286 99 23 THE WARREN 1,313 1,038,000 790 99
15 COSTA RHU 1,335 1,700,000 1,274 99 23 MAYSPRINGS 1,313 890,000 678 99
15 THE ADARA 850 1,068,000 1,256 FH 23 REGENT GROVE 1,475 900,000 610 99
15 HERITAGE EAST 463 580,000 1,253 FH 25 PARC ROSEWOOD 517 520,000 1,006 99
15 THE AMBROSIA 1,141 1,340,000 1,174 FH 26 BULLION PARK 2,207 1,803,000 817 FH
15 ST PATRICK'S LOFT 1,066 1,230,000 1,154 FH 27 THE ESTUARY 592 640,000 1,081 99
15 COSTA RHU 1,647 1,880,000 1,142 99 27 YISHUN EMERALD 1,808 1,100,000 608 99
15 HAWAII TOWER 2,239 2,520,000 1,126 FH 28 SELETAR SPRINGS CONDOMINIUM 1,561 1,088,000 697 99
15 TEMBELING COURT 1,324 1,330,000 1,005 FH
16 WATERFRONT GOLD 1,475 1,700,000 1,153 99 NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property
16 CHANGI COURT 1,098 1,000,000 911 FH transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.
17 FERRARIA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,572 1,200,000 764 FH Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser
17 BALLOTA PARK CONDOMINIUM 1,711 1,208,000 706 FH signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

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