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10/02/2012
Housing, half hearted or half baked measures won’t work
Frankly, I am not too sure whether the measures to cool down property prices were half hearted or half baked measures. They have proven not to work, or they could be intended to work this way. Don’t expect me or any bloggers to know the whole story. We are blogging on superficial understanding of what was going on and at most we are just skimming the surface of a very complex problem, but not unsolvable if the will is there.
Bloggers are not paid to spend all their time and resources to understand the problem and to come out with good solutions. This should be the duty of the professionals who are paid millions and full time on the job to solve the problem. If they cannot to anything right, they should not be there and should not be paid the big salaries. Is this a difficult logic to understand?
The people on the job are professionals and must have a good grasp of the situation and the extent of the problem. It is very disheartening to hear professionals saying that the housing problem is due to one or two factors, a supply problem, or BTO and resale market are separate issues. Some even think that it is okay for foreigners to continue to grab anything available in the market.
Everything in the market affects the market. Everything is linked to the housing price that is ballooning, not just supply and demand, not just a matter of private properties and public housing. Even the scrapping of estate duties is a major factor that influenced the price of properties.
I am not here to give a solution. I am not paid to do it. The public demands that those that are handsomely paid to do their job, starting with a correct policy or mission statement from the govt on what it thinks is its role in providing housing for the people, and what kind of housing and affordability. Everything must gel together for a comprehensive solution and not piece meal. It is obvious that the people are getting very angry with the housing situation.
Can the govt get it right? If they can’t, learn from Malaysia and China. These two countries are serious in wanting to curb property prices and have their priorities right. Housing, a roof over the head at a really ‘affordable’ price is what they are trying to achieve. Even Hongkong is getting serious while we are getting reckless. They are less concerned with the profits of developers and those rich who are hoarding properties to get a good profit for their investments. And in Singapore’s case, with the high density and the squeeze on limited land, the concept of investment in properties and property speculation, foreign ownership, estate duties, must be thoroughly reviewed.
There are many vested interests at stake. What is more important?
Half hearted,half baked ,whatever the case,
ReplyDeleteWhat is important is that I can sell my only little pigeon hole at a 7 digit figures soon.
Every time I see the selling price going up by 1%,my blood pressure goes down 1%.
Use knee cap think oso know it should goes up,up,up...
Just dun understand why must we hope for property prices to go down.I very blurr leh.
Those sitting on properties are laughing and dreaming of retiring as very rich people. Who is going to pay for the high prices, the young people.
ReplyDeleteIt is transferring the debt to the young. And it is a big sum of debt that the young will have to carry through their lives. If there is a financial crisis, they will have to jump down from their million dollar flats.
I think this is very irresponsible and wicked.
This is a bubble they must continue to hold. The government know it will burst one day but do not wish to see it burst during their terms. Perhaps the unfortunate regime that takes over PAP would be blamed for causing misery to the people.
ReplyDeleteLandlordism is a poison of Sinitic culture. This is nothing new. Chinese society solve this problem by one revolution every 300 years.
ReplyDeleteWithin these 300 years, there are so many untold misery the landlord gave to the people. The Chinese people beg and beg the landlord to reduce HDB price for thousands of years, the elites condescendingly look at these worms.
Until one day, the people rise up, and kill all the landlord. The last cycle came to pass during 1949-1976.
Base on these experience, I want to inform my people against having illusion that LHL, the wastrel son will change. He will only when his wealth and personal security are threatened by angry people. This is Chinese culture.
Are we angry enough?
All sinitic civilization suffers high property price. Look at HK, Macau, Japan, Korea, China, SG...etc
ReplyDeleteThe sinitic elites can face imminent destruction and yet still hang on and refuse to let go landlordism. In Korea, President Syngman Rhee started his land reform destroying the parasitic landlord because he was scare the shit out of him. The communist N Korea once over-run the whole Korea other than Busan. That immediately cut off recruits for guerilla.
Ngo Dinh Diem for S Vietnam is complacent. Even though communist won the war of Diem Bien Phu, that was in the North. They have practically no power base in the South. Business and usual and parasitic landlord continues to exploit people. No land reform.
That was the main reason of guerilla movement who call themselves Vietcong. The south falls not because of military defeat, but mainly, political failure and a greedy elite.
I fully agree that landlordism is a parasitic activity of the rich. Banks called it non performing loans but in the Sinkie context, it is reaping great rewards to the owners without having to work.
ReplyDeleteThe real workers working their guts out only see their income fleeced away by the landlords.
High properties, high rentals are the two biggest causes of high inflation in the country.
Born in Sin over 6 decades ago, there is never a moment that I ever feel Sinkies have got a caring government since independence in 1965.
ReplyDeletepatriot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3DT-DTQke58
ReplyDeleteThe Rentier Class just gets richer, i brought my re sale flat 5 years ago as a single .... and now my flat value has almost doubled ...
I keep lamenting to my family and friends that this is very bad as its robbing the future generation of Singaporeans of a affordable home
my friends said "So what?"
my brother said "Why do you make your life so complicated?"
my mom said "Stop being so negative."
I told them someone has to pay and we are not land lords! and we don't sit on 3 or 4 houses !! we have only one HOME!
So what if i cash out now? i will just change a 100K loan to for a 200K loan if i want to buy a New re sale flat!!
Eat Long Pay Short
If we don't change our mind set soon, we are fucked !!
Bengster
The desire to shit on other people is what make a whole race miserable. In Singapore, those who own few houses support PAP, even though they are merely elite slave of bigger landlord. Those who own one house felt happy because the value of their house keep raising. They feel superior to young man who do not own any house.
ReplyDeleteThis is what neo-Hinduism is about and LKY is its founder. In classical caste system, Brahmin shit on Kṣatriya. They in turn shit on Vaiśyas who in turn shit on Sūdras who in turn shit on Dalits who in turn shit on his own sons, daughters and wife.
LKY asset inflation runs on the same idea. Singaporeans need to wake up, care about our own neighbours and brothers in order to break free from neo-Hinduism.
In fact, the whole Indian race sink not because of Brahmin minority alone but also because of elite slave willing to do the bidding of the wicked Brahmins. In Singapore, PAP get support because of some property owners want their property to hike up roof top, never mind about their sons and daughters.
We have little time left as LKY evangelism effort has poisoned more and more people into nuts.
High property prices would eat into everyone and everything.
ReplyDeleteThe worst lost are those without a property.
The next worst lot are those with only one property that cannot be sold or translated into profit. They sat on it, pay higher property taxes, and watching the price of everything going up because of high rentals.
And they kenna pay more for everything while sitting on their inflated paper value flats and feeling good.
How can they claim to curb property prices, when each consecutive launch goes higher and higher. The rest of the property market takes the cue from the HDB flats, and the new HDB flats take into account the resale values. This is a vicious daisy chain.
ReplyDeleteI want to cry when PM Lee insists that how can this is not affordable when we are building these flats meant for Singaporeans. Not sure he actually believes in himself or just being uncaring.
All we need is a roof over our heads and a door to lock for the night. I am not a bit concerned about the "paper value" of my flat, but I know that lower property prices will lower the cost of living, which is what we all need.
Sinkies are robbed in 4 ways.
ReplyDelete1. High property prices
2. High car prices
3. CPF contributions
And 4th, the deadly one, don't get serious illness or admitted to hospital. Sure die one, and bankrupt some more.
Basically every government in the world tries to extract wealth from middle class, and leave the rich off hook. Below are examples.
ReplyDelete1) Car
2) Property
3) Force saving cap at certain income level
4) healthcare
5) education
6) transport
7) GST
8) retail power tariff
Throughout the history of mankind, the poor people always subject to the brunt of taxation. Fucker Ngiam Tong Dow still can accuse most Singaporean poor dont pay income tax and make it like rich are supporting us.
In fact, the stealth taxation on the middle class could be as great as 80% of our income.
To ask the rich to pay their share is simple. Just implement land value tax, tobin tax, estate tax, will be sufficient to fill our coffer.
ReplyDelete红豆, I think you are wrong in this case. Controlling property prices calls for the Goldilocks approach - not too hot and not too cold.
Should be half measures and half baked. Can you imagined if they come down on property speculation with a ton of bricks? And the whole market collapses.
To be frank, once property is crank up, there is almost no way you can move it down under capitalism. When banks make loan on property, they create monies, and they are extremely leverage on the principal of fractional reserve banking.
ReplyDeleteWhen property price falls, what happen is you destroy monies supply. Such thing cannot occur under capitalism without bankruptcy of banks.
The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home Price Index fell 23 percent in the three years through December 2010. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) lost 14 percent in the same period. A mere 23% fall in US real estate actually brought down all TBTF banks if not for bailout. This includes Goldman, Citi, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, BOA...etc. I could even bankrupt our banks if FED does not QE.
Put it simply, LHL and LKY are wicked person addicted to property heroin. He need ever large dose of drug to keep himself steam and steam. Even he knew the we all end up ultimate destruction. Lees cannot allow the banks to fail. The Lees family has alot of stake with banking families.
ReplyDeleteTalking about USA, FED QE is not to save jobs, but to prop up asset to bail out banks. It is going to transmit asset inflation to SG as USD is world reserve currency. I do not see anytime this will stop. Probably USA really need a civil war to end these nonsense.
I predict property is going to increase and increase.
What can you expect of people with so many properties and waiting to harvest them or pass them to their future generations?
ReplyDeleteHere we go again. I am glad nothing has "worked". It is not suppose to work. The way things are, are the way things are supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteLeave the housing alone. The more you fuck with it, the worse it will become.
/// Matilah_Singapura said...
ReplyDeleteLeave the housing alone. The more you fuck with it, the worse it will become. ///
Leaving it alone - that was the case with SIT and the early years of the HDB. However, somewhere along the line, they have been fucking with it left, right and centre. Which is why the HDB market is in such deep shit.
How can you say it is the market mechanism when you subject it to so many rules?
Problem is, when it suits them, they will use the market mechanism, and when it doesn't they will come up with all kinds rules and regulations.
Remember the joker that said the govt cannot do anything about the prices of HDB and that everything is due to market forces?
ReplyDeleteWhat is that compare to One who claimed time and again that He was implementing cooling measures since he assumed as Housing Minister?
ReplyDeleteAnd
yet property price keep rising before his very own eyes.
No wonder saying one thing and doing another has became so fashionable in parliament.
Must be very thankful that he is now in charge. Otherwise even 3rm flats would cost $1m now. Be thankful, be very thankful.
ReplyDeletexkrxe246
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