According to Sun Yanqing, Chief Research and Strategy Officer of OrangeTee & Tie, in the past, the annual values of most properties remained below $30,000, requiring only a 4% property tax.
However, recent increases in rental prices have caused the annual values of many properties to exceed this level, resulting in higher taxes being levied. This change has affected many homeowners, especially those who have not benefited from the rise in rental prices, feeling unfairly treated. Through this adjustment, most homeowners will experience more fairness and equity.
Ismail, President of PropNex, said that the measures announced by the government are extremely timely given the challenges facing the current real estate market. These include a one-year short-term housing plan for parenting, aimed at helping couples in need of temporary accommodation to receive rental subsidies while waiting for their purchased public housing unit to be completed.
Although the specific subsidy amount has not been disclosed, Ismail believes it will help eligible young families to some extent, especially considering the continuous rise in public housing rentals over the past few years.
However, PropNex also urges the government to consider extending the validity period of subsidies to continue supporting eligible families until their pre-purchased public housing units are completed. This move will help alleviate the economic pressure on this group and provide them with longer-term support.
In addition, the measure allowing elderly single citizens to refund additional buyer's stamp duty for "downsizing" their homes has also received some degree of support from the industry. Ismail believes this will help elderly single individuals cash out their first property by adjusting the size of their housing to support their retirement life.
However, Sun Yanqing argues that this adjustment will only benefit a small number of developers or individuals, as the group of buyers is not large, thus the actual number of beneficiaries is not significant.
