Singapore Shows Asia How To Crack Down on Housing Bubble
Our government / Reserve Bank could take a leaf out of Singapore's book
Singapore, the city-state that banned chewing gum to curb litter, is showing the rest of Asia how to cool a housing bubble.
The government this year ramped up efforts to bring down property prices that surged to a record, adopting some of its strictest measures, including a cap on debt at 60 percent of a borrower’s income, higher stamp duties on home purchases and an increase in real-estate taxes. The combination and timing of the curbs is the most comprehensive among governments battling housing bubbles, according to Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Bank Ltd
Shudda bought an apartment near Orchard Road when I had the chance.
We also have a different situation in the rental market which is a third of our market here we rely in the majority on private rentals supported by tax relief in Singapore it is mainly provided by the govt .
The biggest problem with stopping the real estate bubble in Australia is that the State Governments derive a major part of their income from Stamp Duty & would go bankrupt without it. NSW accidently & totaly unintentionly not only stopped the bubble, but also lowered house values for the first time since the early 70's by introducing an exit tax a few years ago in order to raise more revenue. The immediate result was that investors stopped selling & the same people moved to Brisbane & caused a bubble there. Even though the exit tax was removed rather quickly, the effect was to destroy the RE market in Sydney & we have only just started to get out of it in the last 3 to 6 months. The biggest problem with the market is Gov., knee jerk reaction. They put the brakes on & new home construction slows, causing a lot of subbies to leave the industry. After a while the will activate the industry with stupid incentives like the 1st home buyers scheme & the industry takes off with a shortage of subbies, which, in turn sends their rates through the roof together with the price of new homes, which, of course drags up the value of all the existing homes.
I agree I don't see how you help first home buyers by raising stamp duty or real estate taxes.
The so-called housing shortage, which has been used by the property industry as an excuse for Australia’s overpriced housing, has been exposed by the 2011 Census figures.
The Census revealed that the number of households in Australia is some 1 million less than assumed by the National Housing Supply Council (NHSC) in its estimates of Australia’s housing shortage.
The housing market is a normal market if there are more buyers than sellers the price is bid up . The prices in inner Sydney where the demand is very strong are now hovering around the mill for this you must find 100,000 deposit and then 70,000 in duty
Wish I had bought in Sydney.
i have 4 investment properties all in BNE. Cap gain and rentals nowhere near as good as Sydney. Opportunity lost :(
Would be if you could be Jag....so where are you .....I suspect Richmond / Footscray/Melb or similar.
Let's have a little chat you and I Eh.....love to meet you.
Sorry mate. I am not that way inclined. But I'm flattered. Try the gay dating website.
You should have sold at the peak, a year or so back. You have had a magic 10 years & it is now Sydney's turn. The 14 year cycle is here & the next 3 or 4 years are going to be fantastic for my family. Isn't it good to be able to call everybody that disagrees with you foul names & at the end of the day the final judgement is shown in the bottom line. BTW, I rented in Orchard Rd., in the 70s' & wasn't stuck with a property that was returning the owner less than 2%. My 2 Singaporian partners bought me out with US dollars cash.
Too right Innes. Actually some parts of Brizzy are down 30% from the peak. I'm hoping prices climb 10% so I can offload 1 or 2. I'm one of the lucky ones who still has cap gains and can live of the rent.
you must miss Singers. I love their food. I often head down to Sunybank for good Singaporean tucker.
I am surprise that any part of Brisbane is down that much. I would have thought 5 to 10% max. I had a wholesale travel business in the 70s' & we specialised in Singapore, Bali & Fiji. We got a 70% discount on the rack rates at the Goodwood Park & we booked all our tourists there where I got free accommodation & all meals. On the odd occasion that I ate out, it was at the converted markets down by the waterfront with a choice of around 500 mucky carts all for loose change. It has been a very long time since I was there, so I doubt if I would know it now.
The goodwood park your the first Person I have heard talk about it I love the good wood park I once didn't go there for two years I walked and they said mrxxxx did you have a good trip . I love the restaurant I live the bar .
Surely there must be a "Casablanca" moment there Pete. Tell us, whose heart dd you break at the Goodwood Park hotel.
Oh boy the stories at the
Giodwood Park they mostly involve Mae Ling whom I mentioned earlier. And I still see when I swing thru singers.
Did you know Innes the Goodwood Park is owned by the Sultan of Brunie who maintains a huge suite there with its own entrance .
Not to be confused with Mae Yung of Hing Kong Queentown fame.
That is real news to me Pete. Do you know how long he has owned it? I was in Brunie a couple of years ago. What an amazing place. You cannot buy any alchohol there, but you can go to the border & buy as much as you like with no restriction on the ex pat drinking whatsoever. Locals have the choice of living in a free flat or renting & the Sultan pays the rent. I think that gasolene is about 50 cents/Litre.
I beleive he had quite a tussle to buy it but it would have to have been in the eighties ..did you see the real gold domes in Brunie.
Yes!!! If only I was a lot younger, a lot stronger & a marathon runner with a long ladder. It must save a fortune in cleaning & polishing costs. Reminds me of an old western yarn with no connection to the thread. The highwayman robbed the bank & threw 6 bars of gold into the saddle bags. He raced away followed by the sheriff who was screaming at the posse. "forget the bloody gold. Catch that f...ing horse. It's Derby day on Saturday."
You bring back good memories of the Goodwood Park it was always my Haven after coming out of India or Vietnam etc
The Sultan also owns the Dorchester in London but I like Browns similar to the Goodwood in many ways.
How about you Jags do you know the Goodwood or is it just us Far East hands who know the secret. I don't know if anyone remembers Max Harris of Mary Martins Book shop fame etc it was his favourite hotel .
Jags where are you
Hey Pete
i visited Spore as a in the late 70's and been there off an over the years.
Been there for high tea once, with our hosts.
More of a transit hub for us. We usually stay near Orchard Rd for a bit of shopping and the local culinary delights when traveling from or to Oz. Love Little India and the Baba Nyonya restaurants in the Katong area.
Ah yes they do a famouse high tea
A bit more history Innes the Goodwood was originally the German club .
Talking of clubs the Tanglin was a haunt .
Innes today is the day you have lunch with your barrister and judges friends can you let us know if they think she will walk .
I had a great wet lunch yesterday & learned more, as usual. Basically, the prosecution needs to find collusion to committ a criminal offence. If they cannot find documents to link the JOINT criminal intent, nothing will be admissable. In view of Gillards original position as advising partner, her naivity will most likely allow the pair of them immunity. I don't know if I am being over suspicious, BUT, it has occurred to me that the issue of the search warrant virtually ensures the end of the matter for Gillard.
I can't believe in any. Conspiracy Innes the Victorian police have spent a lot of money travelling to NSW and Victoria.
Surely she was involved particularly in the matter of transferring money from the branch in WA into false accounts in Perth .
We don't have a bubble bu. we do have a supply problem especially in the inner city we should make it more affordable by not having tax on puchase