ST Forum : Use sharper tools to fix property market flaws

Mar 25, 2010

Use sharper tools to fix property market flaws

I REFER to Mr Bobby Jayaraman's letter, 'New measures won't help market bloom' (Feb 23). There may be room to re-examine market statistics in greater detail and consider sharper tools to tackle specific problems instead of slapping stamp fees on sellers across the board.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority keeps statistics of property transactions. Nineteen different headings are listed for each transaction, including 'purchaser address indicator' which describes whether a buyer is from HDB or private housing, and 'type of sale' which describes whether a sale is new, resale or sub-sale.

A quick comparison of non-landed property sales in districts 9, 16 and 27 over the past year shows different transaction patterns in different locations.

For example, in district 9, 20 per cent were reported to be buyers with HDB 'address indicator' and 21 per cent of the 2,500 transactions were 'sub-sales'. In district 16, only 10 per cent were 'sub-sales' with 45 per cent buyers with HDB 'address indicator' in the 1,710 cases. In district 27, the total number of sales was 239, with 161 with HDB 'address indicator'.

Armed with such info, the authorities can use sharper tools to correct market imperfections caused in particular locations or by particular groups of people.

Patrick Sio