That’s how I see the Singapore Property market after the 7 rounds of cooling measures
Private residential property prices in Singapore fell by 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2014, according to URA flash estimates released yesterday. This indicates that the final blow to the beautiful bubble has been done with and now it’s official that the 7 rounds of cooling measures have finally worked to stop the speculation in the property market here.
Here is a gist or rather a round –up of the 7 cooling measures for all you avid property market watchers.For more details, please have a look at the official press releases regarding the property cooling measures by clicking on the hyperlinks below :
•Round 1 (14 September 2009)
•Round 2 (20 February 2010)•Round 3 (30 August 2010)
•Round 4 (14 January 2011)
•Round 5 (7 December 2011)
•Round 6 (5 October 2012)
•Round 7 (11 January 2013)•Round 8 (28 June 2013)
The Government imposed cooling measures since September 2009, when the realization set in that there is a frenzy for buying and this may lead to a property bubble forming similar to the USA.
If you go through the rounds of cooling measures, you can sense that despite trying their best the Government was unable to dampen the spirits of the junta at large.
In spite of the cooling measures people still kept buying as they were afraid that if they delay they may miss the boat, which was in a way true. The property market was definitely booming. The property prices kept climbing upward, although the cooling measures did slow down the pace a bit and then came the 7th round of cooling measures, this was by far the “most severe” and the “most encompassing” according to Knight Frank. The cooling package addresses wide-ranging issues from Permanent Residents and citizens, to HDB flats and ECs, and even on industrial properties. You can read more about the Knight Frank report here.
So finally, the Government managed to curb the rampant buying, which has fuelled inflationary pressures and could cause long-term structural problems to the economy if left unresolved. Yesterday's URA report clearly shows that the Government finally managed to put a brake to the speeding car.
Info courtesy - Knight Frank, Sbr.com.sg, MAS.gov.sg
