Property agents and developers were rushing yesterday to stop jittery buyers from backing out of deals and calming fearful sellers about where prices might head in the wake of the new cooling measures.
Some agents said they were rushing to find alternatives for local and foreign buyers to acquire homes late into Wednesday night before the new measures kicked in the next day. Others said deals were falling through in the first few hours after the new stamp duty was imposed.
They have also been flooded with calls from customers concerned about how the new measures might affect their decision to either buy or sell properties.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Development (MND) has been bombarded with criticism from real estate bodies about its lack of consultation with industry players regarding the newly imposed cooling measures.
However, the ministry noted that the measures are market-sensitive. “It is not possible for the government to conduct direct consultations with industry players before implementing demand measures as these are market-sensitive,” it said.
A spokesman from the MND said the government is closely monitoring the Singapore property market. It has conducted regular dialogues with several stakeholders in the real estate market, including property consultants, developers, real estate agents and market analysts, said the spokesman, adding that the input from these dialogues is factored into its policy formulation.
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