Share prices for some of Singapore’s biggest developers surged after cooling measures were eased last Friday. (Photo: Jonathan Choe, Flickr)
Three large property developers reported sizeable increases in their stock prices hours after the government announced the easing of two property cooling measures last Friday (10 March), reported The New Paper.
In particular, UOL Group, CapitaLand and City Developments Limited (CDL) contributed to the highest gains in the Straits Times Index (STI), which rose at least four percent.
The Business Times also reported that the FTSE ST Real Estate Index, which consists of 44 Singapore property firms, reached a record high since July 2015.
The authorities announced that the Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) will only apply to homes sold within three years of purchase instead of four years previously. They also lowered the rates for each tier by four percentage points effective from 11 March 2017.
At the same time, the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework was waived for mortgage equity withdrawal loans with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios of 50 percent and below.
But before the two curbs were relaxed, share prices of property companies were already trending upwards. In fact, a report last month from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) revealed that the Real Estate Developers & Operators Index climbed 12.4 percent from the start of the year until 13 February, surpassing the 8.2 percent growth in the broader index (STI).
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
