Buying Singapore property after cooling measures: Fomo or wait and see?

FROM a capital appreciation perspective, is it wiser to bide your time amid new cooling measures, or act on the "fear of missing out" (Fomo) and rush to snap up properties? In its analysis of historical sales data, the Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) found that properties purchased 2 years after a round of cooling measures tended to achieve stronger capital appreciation than those acquired in the same year the measures were implemented.

The research institute at the National University of Singapore tracked homes that were purchased around 1996 and 2013 - the years when earlier cooling measures had the most lasting impact on the market - using data on caveats lodged. It then assessed how the properties performed over time, based on longitudinal data.

In the wake of any new property curbs, sales volumes typically come down as most buyers adopt a wait-and-see approach, and that may lead to a decline in housing prices.