The 10 percent additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) for foreigners is ‘a very big number’, according to Philip Ng, CEO at Far East Organization (pictured), noting that the recent property cooling measures may need to be calibrated, based on how persistently sales volumes drop.
Ng added that the cooling measures had prompted Far East and its partners to drop the prices for their soon-to-launch 992-unit Watertown project in Punggol Central, as foreigners have shown relatively less interest in the project compared to launches done prior to the cooling measures.
Consequently, the measures may eventually need tweaking, he said.
“Indeed, there could be some calibration or tiering perhaps, but that’s something that has to be discussed with good data between developers and policymakers.”
“At this point, it’s pretty early days and you can see that there was already a drop in December,” he said, referring to the 63 percent plunge in new private home sales last month.
Ng said implementing the policy for a while will gauge whether the sales decline is persistent before finally deciding if the measures must indeed be tweaked.
In response to the ABSD, unit prices at Watertown were reduced by five to eight percent.
Related Stories:
Govt releases two residential sites for sale
Kovan residential site draws 11 bids
S’pore home sales slow down as cooling measures bite