http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...sures-20140208
CDL chief calls for review of property cooling measures
Kwek Leng Beng points to falling prices, fears over global economy
Published on Feb 08, 2014
By Melissa Tan
A PROMINENT real estate industry veteran called on the Government yesterday to review some of its property market cooling measures as home sales and prices fall.
"As the property market starts to cool... this may be the right time to tweak the control measures in the light of concern over the global economy," said City Developments (CDL) executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng.
"It does take time for the medicine to work. Both the private and public sectors want a soft landing."
He was speaking at a lunch organised by the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas) at the W Singapore - Sentosa Cove.
Mr Chia Boon Kuah, Redas' newly re-elected president, told the lunch that a triple whammy of home loan restrictions, looming oversupply and surging labour costs has been "unnerving to developers, to say the least".
Property consultants and agents echoed Mr Kwek's views yesterday, adding that some property curbs could be modified to prevent the market from going into a tailspin.
"We need a tweak because the market is reaching a psychological fear level where crowd behaviour believes that the market is going to crash," said Savills research head Alan Cheong. "The Government could keep on top of this situation by turning that perception around, so that it doesn't become self-fulfilling."
Prices of both private and public housing fell more than expected in the final three months of last year. Private home prices slid 0.9 per cent and Housing Board resale prices tumbled 1.5 per cent - both worse than the Urban Redevelopment Authority's flash estimates.
PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said: "If policies hurt the volume of transactions and prices, that is not sustainable growth. If sentiment goes negative, it takes much more time to rebound."
However, some prospective buyers said they would like the cooling measures to stay unchanged, so that prices keep going down.
"I want the measures to stay in place. The key is that I want to get a good deal," said Mr Sam Goh, 27, who runs a financial services firm. He said he was on the lookout to buy a second private home in the $400,000 to $800,000 range and had enough cash on hand. He said he did not mind paying the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) as long as the overall price had dropped.
Mr Kwek said developers should "continue to work closely and collectively with the Government to ensure a sustainable property market, which is a difficult balancing task".
He was also given the inaugural Redas Lifetime Achievement Award at the lunch yesterday.
The association noted that Mr Kwek was "known for his foresight and astute acquisitions". It added that he has also helped to reform the property sector with actions such as the introduction of the Developers' Fund to protect buyers, which enforced the rule that money collected for a specific project could not be used for any other purpose.
When asked for examples of how the cooling measures could be tweaked, Mr Kwek told reporters the Government should, for instance, remove the ABSD imposed on foreigners buying property. "We should attract foreigners but... we penalise them. Why don't we just say, 'If you sell within three years, four years, then I tax you? You come in, I don't want to tax you'. I think this is one way."
ABSD for Singaporeans and permanent residents could also be removed, he suggested, adding: "I don't believe there is a lot of speculation."
[email protected]