Luxury developers to be greatly affected by new measures

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While the new government measures could make private homes. more affordable to Singaporeans, it is expected to affect prices and sales volumes.

Many developers have since come forward to call the new rule untimely.

Effective today, corporate entities and foreigners acquiring private homes in Singapore must pay an additional 10 percent stamp duty.

The additional stamp duty is also applicable to permanent residents (PRs) buying their second homes, as well as to Singaporeans acquiring their third residential property onwards. However, overseas properties are not included in the list.

“The additional buyer's stamp duty should help cool investment demand, and avoid the prospect of a major, destabilising correction further down the road,” said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

Some analysts believe that luxury property developers will be greatly affected by these latest measures.

“Share prices of developers such as Wing Tai, SC Global and Ho Bee, all with substantial exposure to the high-end segment, could see near-term corrections. The more diversified players like CapitaLand and Keppel Land are unlikely to be as affected, share price-wise,” said Wilson Liew, an analyst from Kim Eng.

In addition, the new measures may drive demand to other segments. “After this round of measures, the office and industrial markets will turn out to be non-sustainable as investors will be driven to those areas,” said Ku Swee Yong, Chief Executive of International Property Advisor.

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