Property rule easing may prompt regulatory shift: report

Analysts note that Singapore could be willing to address developers’ concerns.

Analysts have weighed in that Singapore’s decision to remove a restriction on home builders may be the first step to unwinding cooling measures on the sector, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Publicly listed housing developers with a “substantial connection to Singapore” will be exempt from the requirement to complete development within five years and sell all units in a project within an extra two years, the Ministry of Law and Singapore Land Authority said in a statement on Thursday.

Still, the government said it isn’t making changes to existing property market cooling measures and all developers will continue to be subject to the prevailing Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty.

Citigroup analysts Brandon Lee and Si Xian Goh state that developers will prefer “the abolishment or reduction of Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty, which is more punitive” whilst Jefferies analyst Krishna Guha notes that authorities are signaling “a willingness to address the concerns of local developers while keeping the overall residential market in line with economic fundamentals, especially in what could be an election year.”

Read the full report here.