Esteemed speakers at the two-day event included Ken Low, Managing Partner of Singapore Realtors Inc.
The two-day event saw attendees come together at the showflat of Tuan Sing’s latest development – Mont Botanik Residence.
As we head towards the middle of the year, questions arise as to how the property market has performed and what to expect in the second half of 2019. The market outlook together with topics such as decoupling and the URA Draft Master Plan 2019 were covered during the recent Tuan Sing Guru Talk.
The two-day event on 30 and 31 March saw attendees come together at the showflat of Tuan Sing’s latest development – Mont Botanik Residence.
They were joined by four of Singapore’s most esteemed speakers from the real estate and legal professions, who shed some light on the current market conditions. These included Ken Low, Managing Partner of Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI) and Daniel Lee, Associate District Director of SRI.
The other speakers were Lie Chin Chin, Managing Director of law firm Characterist LLC and Patrick Tan, Founder and CEO of Fortis Law Corporation. They covered the topic of decoupling and how it works for property buyers, which proved to be informative.
Among the latest cooling measures which took effect last year included higher Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates. This resulted in many Singaporean co-owners looking at decoupling as a means of saving on costs when buying a second property.
“Since 2011, ABSD has seen a threefold increase and it is a huge sum to be considered when investors make their next purchase. Investors must understand decoupling to maximize their investment returns,” noted Chin Chin.
Singaporean buyers are now levied an ABSD rate of 12 percent for their second property and 15 percent for the third and subsequent property. Meanwhile, property investors can look at three ways to reduce or avoid paying ABSD altogether, namely decoupling, purchase under trust and planning ahead.
Separately, the URA Draft Master Plan 2019 was covered by SRI’s Low and Lee. They noted how the master plan will guide Singapore’s development in the next 10 to 15 years with objectives to create greener, more inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods. In fact, 3D underground maps have already been rolled out for several areas including Marina Bay, Jurong Innovation District and Punggol Digital District.
By tapping on 3D technology, the underground use and planning requirements will be made clear to developers and building owners in these three pilot areas and will be expanded to include more areas in the future.
Reviewed once every five years, the latest Draft Master Plan features several key strategies including liveable and inclusive communities, convenient and sustainable mobility, as well as rejuvenation of familiar places to build a better Singapore for the next generation.
The Mont Botanik Sales Gallery is open daily from 10am to 6pm. Interested buyers can find out more information here.
For more information on upcoming events, please visit: pgevents.propertyguru.com.sg.