Prices of bungalows and high-end condominiums in Sentosa have fallen significantly due to the series of cooling measures by the government, according to media reports.
But the most debilitating factors are the Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD), tax of up to 18 percent for foreign property buyers and the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework.
Under the SSD rules, all sellers are required to pay 16 percent of a property’s value if they sell it within a year of its purchase. Foreigners also need to pay a buyer’s stamp of 15 percent in addition of basic buyer’s stamp duty of around three percent, while the TDSR limits the loan quantum purchasers can get to 60 percent of their monthly income.
As a result, current prices of luxury condos at Sentosa are hovering near their record-low since end-2006 based on 15 deals, said Maybank Kim Eng.
Residential properties bought after 2006 and sold off in the past 12 months posted price drops of between five percent and 21 percent estimated its Singapore-based analyst Ng Wee Siang.
But the values of some repossessed condos auctioned off by banks in early-2014, such as two units at the Turquoise, dived by as much as 45 percent compared to their purchase price in 2007.
Chestertons’ Managing Director Donald Han noted the most affected segment consists of high-end homes bigger than 2,000 sq ft and costing from $4 million to $5 million
In fact, URA data showed an 11,280 sq ft bungalow at Treasure Island in Sentosa Cove lost over 50 percent of its peak-value when it changed hands this year, while a 7,341 sq ft property was sold for 39 percent less than the record-high of $3,214 psf.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
