SG Budget Reactions: No tweaking of property cooling measures disappointing

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Angela Tan

Published Mon, Feb 20, 2017 · 10:42 AM

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NO lifting or tweaking of the property cooling measures were announced by Singapore's Finance Minister, Heng Swee Keat, in his Budget speech on Monday.

Here are some expert comments:

Tay Hong Beng, Head of Real Estate at KPMG in Singapore

"It is not entirely surprising that there was no lifting of the residential property cooling measures, especially in Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD). The Government may be concerned that the existing economic conditions with generally lower interest rates and relative affordability of the residential properties may create an unmanageable spike in demand from both foreign and local investors."

Leonard Ong, Tax Partner at KPMG in Singapore

"It's disappointing that Budget 2017 did not provide a tweaking of the property cooling measures put in place a couple of years ago. With the measures in place for the last few years, property prices have moderated somewhat and the real estate industry was hoping for some reprieve in the current Budget."

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