Latest Government Announcement: Measures to maintain a stable and substainable property market

The government has announced several new measures today aimed at cooling the property market. This is according to report from Channel News Asia.

The new measures include:

• Increasing the holding period for imposition of Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) - The SSD will be raised from the current one year to three years.
• Property buyers who already have one or more outstanding housing loans at the time of the new housing purchase will have to pay more money upfront - The government will increase the minimum cash payment from 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the valuation limit.
• Those with more than one outstanding housing loan will also see a decrease in the "Loan to Value" (LTV) limit for housing loans granted by financial institutions regulated by MAS - The LTV will be lowered from the current 80 per cent to 70 per cent.

The measures will take immediate effect on August 30.

Below is the official press release extracted from the Ministry of National Development website, which provides more details on the new measures.

SG New Property Measures (30 Aug 2010)

The wife and I wonder if Christmas has indeed come early. More interestingly, if the latest announcement will sway the property market prices closer to our "Price Correction by October Prediction"...
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