Source : The Straits Times, 6 Aug 2007
The recent spate of announcements from the Government on spiralling home property prices is indeed a concern for those who intend to make Singapore a home.
These include the masses, the middle class, the affluent who are citizens, as well as permanent residents with many friends and relatives here.
There is also the spectre of Singapore becoming a less attractive place for expatriates to come here to work. If left unchecked, all the efforts to brand Singapore as a truly cosmopolitan place may be derailed for several years until our property prices and rental rates are attractive in comparison to other regional hubs.
Several of the measures introduced of late are to ensure that en-bloc activities do not get out of hand, as well as to have those in the property sector to be more objective in their announcements to the public.
Hopefully, property developers and property analysts will heed the Government’s call, lest the Government is forced to implement some harder measures to slow the rate at which prices are going up.
That said, two things have still to be addressed.
Firstly, prime property developers need to realise that the headlining of the top psf prices fetched at their developments does have an impact on the rest of the market, extending all the way to the mass market.
The sentiment among sellers, and expressed by the agents marketing their properties, is ‘if a unit in Paterson Road can sell for $5,000 psf, then why can’t the unit in nearby River Valley sell for $2,000 psf’.
Speaking of agents, they should be more responsible and not engage in activities that incite speculative sentiments among prospective buyers.
While looking at some investment grade properties recently, an agent marketing a unit in District 10 told me that property prices will top $8,000 psf in 3-5 years’ time and the unit that I was looking at was therefore a steal.
Another agent, in collusion with other agents, engaged in options trading.
While wondering if that was legal at all, options trading has the effect of taking advantage of the anxieties of potential buyers and making them buy at prices that are not even reflective of the prevailing market prices.
As Minister Mah Bow Tan mentioned recently, such buyers may regret buying at almost inflated prices, and may suffer considerable losses eventually.
From what I understand, options trading, involving agents who sign these options with sellers, is fairly rampant in prime areas.
Options trading is a flipping activity, and drives property speculation - where agents are themselves involved, this is both unethical as well as a sign of the property marketing becoming unhealthy.
I hope the authorities can look into this and come up with measures to stop this too.
Gene Chia Choon Hwee
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