Over the last few years, the rise in property prices and transactions have been continuing unabatedly, even with the Government introducing cooling measures. This peaked by the first quarter of 2013, following a revision of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) and loan-to-value (LTV) policies. Subsequent inclusions of the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) and mortgage serving ratios (MSR) also proved ineffective in halting the growth in the housing market.

The latest housing figures for 2016 from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) paint a bleak picture. There was a decline of 0.7 per cent in private property prices compared to 0.5 per cent decline in the previous quarter. Rentals fell 1.3 per cent, the same rate as the previous quarter. However, URA recently reported that sales of new private homes soared to a 10-month high in May, and analysts are cautiously hopeful that this could point to a stabilising property market and even be in a tentative recovery mode.

Still, figures provide only a rough assessment of the property market and do little in presenting the real plight of parties whose interests are vested in how the market pans out. We speak to agents, sellers and buyers:

REAL ESTATE AGENTS SAY

Property agents, including ERA realty network agent Kang Xue Ming, do not benefit from the lull in sales. Xue Ming says: “The general public doesn’t hold as much interest to buy or sell, as compared to the period before the cooling measures. Prospective buyers have also become more conscious of pricing.”

Pricing is crucial to buyers, in view of the TDSR that has so far proven to be very effective in slowing sales, he adds. “This is especially so for buyers who upgrade from an HDB flat to a condo. They will already be affected by the ABSD and LTV policies. Topping it off with the TDSR makes it harder to close a sale now.”