Pay for privilege

Leslie Yee

Published Mon, May 22, 2023 · 05:34 PM

Property Insights

RICH people sometimes do seemingly crazy things - splurge on fine art, premium wine, fancy cars, or a yacht - just because they can.

Maybe a wealthy foreigner will pay S$9 million in Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) when buying a luxury apartment in the Orchard Road belt costing S$15 million.

Barely seven months after a round of property cooling measures were introduced, the private residential property market here was jolted by further cooling measures that see higher ABSD rates for many buyers effective Apr 27.

For example, ABSD rates for foreigners buying any homes double from 30 per cent to 60 per c…