Those Who Feed The Frenzy

Source : TODAY, Wednesday, October 31, 2007

More supervision of agencies needed to curb property speculation

Letter from HUI CHI SHING

I REFER to the article “Upbeat on Singapore economy” (Oct 30).

As a foreigner who has been working in Singapore for nine years, I regret to say that Singapore is gradually losing its attractiveness to me. This is because of the soaring costs of living in recent years — in almost every area, especially in the residential property market.

Over the last two years, rental for residential properties has generally increased by at least 50 per cent and, in some cases, by up to 100 per cent. Unfortunately, my salary has not been able to match that rate of increase.

With the Singapore economy improving over the years, growth in the property market — in tandem with the economy as a whole — is a natural process.

However, an overly-speculative property market will do more harm than good to the continued expansion of the economy, as well as to the livelihood of Singaporeans and foreigners who work and live here.

In such a climate, the role of the property agencies in instigating such frenzy warrants closer Government supervision.

Some months back, TODAY reported an incident where grossly-inaccurate property market data was published by a certain property agency. When confronted with the correct data, the agency simply claimed that a clerical oversight had been made.

While no outsider can draw a conclusion on the real motive or reason for such an error, one cannot deny that such misleading data had already created fear in the market — a fear among some groups of potential property buyers that “if you don’t join the queue now, you will miss the boat”.

While I can fully understand that it is always in the best interests of the property agencies to keep the property market buoyant, all property agencies must at the same time assume and fulfil their social and professional responsibilities to help potential property buyers and tenants make informed decisions.

As a potential property buyer myself, I keep reminding myself that it is crucial to do my own research using information from several independent sources, rather than rely solely on what the property agencies tell me.