Could this be the quickest fix for Singapore’s property slump?
Could this be the quickest fix for Singapore’s property slump?
Crowdsourcing pioneer sounds off on the city-state’s dulling market
Current cooling measures are only walling out foreigners from helping developers and investors unload homes in Singapore.
This is the view of Getty Goh, chief executive of Singapore-based real estate crowdsourcing platform CoAssets. Speaking with Channel News Asia, Goh advocated for the removal of the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD), a measure designed to deter foreigners from investing in Singapore property, as a short-term solution.
“There is really no harm in removing just the ABSD especially for foreigners because it will meet the various competing demands,” Goh explained. “Firstly, the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) will already ensure that Singaporeans don’t overstretch themselves. So that shouldn’t be a worry. And the reintroduction of foreign buyers is not going to change things too much in the near term.”
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The ABSD as well as the range of housing loan curbs in the city-state have weakened demand for new properties and dragged down prices, Goh said. “I see removing this one measure temporarily as a way of allowing people who have already invested, an exit strategy,” he added.
The Singaporean government has remained adamant about putting the curbs in place though. National Development Minister Lawrence Wong emphasised last week that the measures would prevent the city-state from turning into “a nation of property speculators.”
“If and when capital inflows come, be it from local or foreign sources, it’s very easy to cause fluctuations in our property market, and we don’t want that to happen,” Wong told The Straits Times.
Listen to Goh speaking on the topic here:
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Source: Property Report