{"id":142312,"date":"2024-02-13T09:12:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T02:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/propertyguru-calls-for-reduction-of-15-month-wait-period-tweak-absd-property-tax-revenue-to-increase-600-million-in-2024-and-more\/"},"modified":"2024-02-13T17:19:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T10:19:47","slug":"propertyguru-calls-for-reduction-of-15-month-wait-period-tweak-absd-property-tax-revenue-to-increase-600-million-in-2024-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/propertyguru-calls-for-reduction-of-15-month-wait-period-tweak-absd-property-tax-revenue-to-increase-600-million-in-2024-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"PropertyGuru calls for reduction of 15-month wait period, tweak ABSD, Property tax revenue to increase $600 million in 2024 and more"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nPropertyGuru calls for reduction of 15-month wait period, tweak ABSD, Property tax revenue to increase $600 million in 2024 and more5 \u2013 13 February 2024\u00a0
\nIn its budget wish list 2024, PropertyGuru has urged the government to reduce the 15-month wait for private property downgraders and withhold the Additional Buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for Singaporean families purchasing a second home. Meanwhile, Singapore\u2019s residential property tax revenue is projected to increase by $600 million in 2024, up by 58% from the earlier forecast of $380 million.
\n1. PropertyGuru calls for reduction of 15-month wait period, tweak ABSD<\/p>\n

\u00a0In its budget wish list 2024, PropertyGuru has urged the government to reduce the 15-month wait for private property downgraders and withhold the Additional Buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for Singaporean families purchasing a second home, reported Singapore Business Review.
\nDr Tan Tee Khoon, Country Manager \u2013 Singapore,\u00a0PropertyGuru suggested cutting the 15-month wait period for private property owners who wanted to acquire non-subsidised HDB resale flat since the policy, which was introduced as a temporary measure, had already helped temper demand as well as moderate HDB HDB\u00a0flat prices.
\nWith the market now at a new stage, he believes it is time \u201cto revisit some of the assumptions\u201d.
\nTo curb the financial stress of homeownership, Dr Tan also proposed withholding the ABSD for Singapore families buying a second property, noting that doing so could inadvertently raise the supply of rental properties.
\nMeanwhile, Dr Lee Nai Jia, Head of Real Estate Intelligence, Data and Software Solutions, PropertyGuru Group, called for the reintroduction of estate duty, abolished in 2008, to address wealth inequality.
\nHe proposed applying inheritance tax more broadly to the population, with rates adjusted based on the type and value of housing owned, to ensure a fairer distribution of tax burden across various segments of the society.
\n2. Early transition to SORA provides more flexibility
\nAdrian, a 31-year-old fintech professional, was one of those who made an early switch from a\u00a0Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) to Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA) home loan in 2020, in anticipation of market changes.
\n\u201cIn view of the COVID-19 pandemic and market uncertainty, I wanted more predictability to manage my loans and make partial pre-payments if necessary,\u201d he said.
\nThe move allowed him to reprice his $800,000 loan to a 3M Compounded SORA + 0.80% from 3M SIBOR + 0.45% package.
\nThose with SIBOR-referenced home loans have until 30 April 2024 to convert to an alternative package.
\nFailure to act will lead to an automatic conversion to SORA Conversion Package (SCP) from 1 June 2024.
\nThis comes as SIBOR will be discontinued after 31 December 2024, with SORA becoming the key interest rate benchmark.
\nThe transition is in line \u201cwith global interest rate benchmark reforms to improve the robustness and integrity of financial benchmarks\u201d, said PropertyGuru.
\nActing early provides homeowners more flexibility and control over their loan terms.
\nNotably, those with SIBOR-pegged loans have various options, including switching to prevailing package offered by their bank, switching to SORA Conversion Package (SCP) prior to 30 April 2024 or await automatic conversion.
\n3. Property tax revenue to increase $600 million in 2024
\nSingapore\u2019s residential property tax revenue is projected to increase by $600 million in 2024, up by 58% from the earlier forecast of $380 million, reported TODAY.
\nSecond Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat attributed the bigger than expected hike to higher annual values due to higher market rentals for residential properties.
\nChee made the statement in response to Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh\u2019s question on property tax collections in 2024 given this year\u2019s increase in property tax rates.
\nThe hike, which was the second and last step of the property tax revisions unveiled in Budget 2022, was part of the government\u2019s effort to raise wealth taxes for cars and residential properties over time.
\nChe noted that most owner-occupied residential properties saw their annual values rise by over 20% in 2024 due to the hike in market rentals from 2022 to 2023.
\nTo cushion the impact of the tax hike on owner-occupiers, the government provided a property tax rebate of up to 100%, capped at $1,000.
\nWith this, no property tax will be paid by owner-occupiers of HDB one- and two-bedroom units, while owner-occupiers of other HDB flat types will see an average tax increase of less than $3 per month.
\nHalf of private property owner-occupiers will face an increase of less than $15 per month.
\n4. HDB approves 850 appeals to waive 15-month wait-out period
\nThe Housing Board has received around 3,470 appeals filed by private property owners seeking to waive the 15-month wait-out period before purchasing an HDB resale flat from 30 September 2022 to 31 December 2023.
\nOf these, 850 appeals or about 25% were approved by HDB, shared the Ministry of National Development (MND) in a written reply to Parliament.
\nThe approved cases mostly involved individuals facing financial difficulties and without alternative housing options, or those who submitted evidence that they had committed to dispose of their private property, or to purchase an HDB resale flat prior to 30 September 2022.
\nMND was responding to MP Sitoh Yih Pin who asked for data on the number of appeals received as well as the success rate of such appeals.
\nThe government introduced various property cooling measures in September 2022, including that requiring private homeowners to wait 15 months from the sale of their property before purchasing an HDB resale flat.
\nHowever, the 15-month wait-out period does not apply to Singaporean couples if both spouses are 55 years old and above and are moving from their private home to a four-room or smaller resale HDB flat.
\n5. HDB gave out over $4.5 billion in housing grants from 2020 to 2023
\nFrom 2020 to 2023, HDB gave out over $4.5 billion in housing grants to new or resale flat buyers, reported The Straits Times.
\nNotably, about 63,700 households benefitted from the Enhanced Central Provident Fund (CPF) Housing Grant, which provides up to $80,000 to first-time HDB flat buyers, while about 44,700 household received the Proximity Housing Grant, which offered up to $30,000 to resale flat buyers who chose to live near or with their parents or children, said HDB in an update.
\nThese grants have witnessed enhancements in recent years, with the CPF Housing Grant raised last year to support buyers of resale flats.
\nWith this, close to eight in 10 flat buyers in 2023 serviced their HDB loans using their CPF contributions, with little or no cash payments.
\nHDB shared that over 1.5 million household also benefitted from its upgrading programmes by end-2023.
\nThese include the Enhancement for Active Seniors programme to provide elderly-friendly fittings and fixtures to homes, the Home Improvement Programme to fix issues such as ceiling leaks and spalling concrete in ageing flats and the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme to revamp housing blocks and precincts.
\n6. 940 senior households who bought resale flats exempted from 15-month wait
\nAround 940 senior households who owned private properties purchased a 4-room or smaller HDB resale flat between 30 September 2022 and 31 December 2023, without waiting 15 months after disposing their homes, reported The Straits Times.
\nThis formed less than 4% of the total resale transactions for such flats during that period, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee in a written reply to Parliament.
\n\u201cGiven the small numbers, there is likely minimal impact by this group of seniors on the prices and resale volume of 4-room resale HDB flats,\u201d he said in response to MP Chong Kee Hiong, who asked if the exemption for senior private home owners had an impact on prices.
\nIn fact, no \u201cspillover impact\u201d is expected on the prices of 5-room HDB resale flats, he added.
\nOrangeTee & Tie data showed that prices of four-room HDB resale flats rose at the fastest rate across all flat types in Q4 2023, at 0.7%.
\nProperty analysts believed the exemption for seniors contributed to the strong demand for 4-room resale flats, causing prices to increase.
\nNotably, 4-room HDB resale flats accounted for the biggest proportion of the overall HDB resale flat transactions in Q4 2023, at 44.4%, said OrangeTee.
\n7. Nearly 950 families in rental flats became HDB homeowners in 2023
\nAround 8,300 families living in public rental flats became HDB homeowners over the past decade, reported The Straits Times.
\nOf these, nearly 950 acquired their own HDB flats in 2023, up from 700 in 2022 and marking the highest since the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Majority bought their homes directly from HDB, while the rest turned to the resale market.
\nAbout two-thirds benefitted from grants for first-time buyers, like the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant, while 80 of the 950 rental households availed of the Step-Up Housing Grant.
\nAs of December 2023, another 2,100 rental households booked new HDB flats still under construction.
\nCurrently, around 50,000 households are residing in public rental flats.
\n8. Vacated flats in Tanglin Halt to be rented out as temporary housing from 2025
\nSome 2,000 vacated flats in Tanglin Halt will form the bulk of additional temporary housing for families waiting for the completion of their new flats, revealed the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
\nThis will bring the total supply of flats under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) to 4,000 units by 2025.
\nTo be spruced up before they are rented out under PPHS, the vacated flats are spread across 17 blocks in Tanglin Halt.
\nThe blocks were among the 31 blocks in the estate to be identified for Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) in 2014.
\nHDB shared that the previous residents have been offered new flats in the Dawson estate and have since moved there.
\n\u201cThese flats will eventually be demolished to make way for redevelopment and will serve as a temporary housing option for PPHS families in the interim period,\u201d explained HDB.
\nRefurbishment works on the flats include replacing fittings and fixtures like floor tiles, sanitary wares and water pipes.
\nOnce completed, the HDB flats will be progressively let out under PPHS starting from the second half of 2025.
\n9. No award for Marina Gardens Crescent site
\nThe Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) made no award for the tender of the white site at Marina Gardens Crescent.
\nThis comes as the sole bid submitted by a consortium comprising GuocoLand. Intrepid Investments and TID Residential was deemed to be too low.
\nNotably, the consortium offered $770 million or $10,591.77 per sq m (psm) for the 99-year leasehold site, designated for residential and commercial development.
\nWith this, the 17,319.2 sq m site is now made available on the Reserve List of 1H 2024 Government Land Sales Programme, enabling interested parties \u201cto submit applications for the sale of the site with a minimum price that is acceptable to the government\u201d.
\nMeanwhile, the site at Media Circle has been awarded to CNQC Realty (Clementi) and Forsea Residence, after they submitted a $395 million bid.
\nZoned for Residential with Commercial at first storey, the 10,632.1 sq m site has a maximum permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 30,834 sq m and a leasehold tenure of 99 years.
\n10. Investment sales to increase to $25 billion \u2013 $28 billion in 2023
\nThe property investment market is expected to receive a significant boost from the launch of 25 Government Land Sales (GLS) sites, reported Singapore Business Review.
\nEdmund Tie expects investment sales to climb between $25 billion and $28 billion this year.
\nGLS accounted for $7.8 billion of total investment sales in 2023, up 40% from its contribution in 2022.
\nGLS\u2019 share in investment sales doubled in 2023 at 38%, compared to 19.2% in 2022.
\nNotably, 14 GLS sites were awarded in 2023. Of these, four were awarded in Q4 2023, amounting to $2.9 billion.
\nThe private sector, on the other hand, saw investment sales decline 45.8% to $12.7 billion, with collective sales emerging as a big contributor, making up 17.8% of total sales in 2023.
\nTaking into account GLS and the private sector\u2019s contribution, overall investment sales for 2023 declined 29.4% year-on-year to $20.4 billion.
\n\u201cAs the economic recovery gains traction in 2024, investment activity in the office and retail sectors could pick up,\u201d shared Edmund Tie.
\n\u00a0
\nLooking for a property in Singapore? Visit PropertyGuru\u2019s\u00a0Listings,\u00a0Project Reviews\u00a0and\u00a0Guides.
\nFariza Salleh, Content Marketing Manager at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email: farizasalleh@propertyguru.com.sg.
\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…PropertyGuru calls for reduction of 15-month wait period, tweak ABSD, Property tax revenue to increase 0 million in 2024 and more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PropertyGuru calls for reduction of 15-month wait period, tweak ABSD, Property tax revenue to increase...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142313,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/hdb-flats-singapore.jpg?fit=800%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-B1m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104187,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/redas-calls-on-government-to-tweak-property-cooling-measures\/","url_meta":{"origin":142312,"position":0},"title":"REDAS calls on government to tweak property cooling measures","date":"February 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Last year, the government raised the ABSD payable by developers from 15 percent to 30 percent, of which five percent is non-remittable. 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According to the rules, developers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":123833,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/singapore-unveils-new-property-cooling-measures\/","url_meta":{"origin":142312,"position":5},"title":"Singapore unveils new property cooling measures","date":"December 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Singapore unveils new property cooling measuresThe new Singapore property cooling measures, which include a higher ABSD, lower TDSR, and tighter LTV, will take effect from today, 16 December 2021. 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