Me & My Money Series (Sunday Times)

[CY09]

Interesting one million for a 3 bedder EC unit.
Yes its true that leverage in real estate makes it attractive; what makes it more attractive is that banks rarely claw back or force you to top up the margin difference during bad times as long as you service your loans.

For stocks margin, if your share prices fall below, brokers will force you to top up/force sell to maintain the margin. Even if you have been servicing the interest repayments

[LionFlyer]

Actually, why Me & My Money have not interviewed politicians? I worked in third world countries and many people aspire to be politicians. It is one job that there is no written qualification and you can get very rich in the process.

I want to buy a house now for my own stay but feel being priced out of the market. Sian.

[koh_52]

>I intend to buy local and overseas property. The several rounds of cooling >measures are meant to deter speculative investors. But if you are in it for >the long haul, it is still lucrative to purchase private homes.

I want to buy a house now for my own stay but feel being priced out of the market. Sian.

Since after Mar 2009, those who missed the boat now facing this statement:
The longer u wait the more difficult for u the own properties, in S'pore...this is the current truth fact.

So when u think there is a deep correction in the property market:
- in China, which happen now the ppty market is going southward severely, due to over supply problem.

- but in SG & HK I can only see that only high Interest Rate will drive the ppty downwards..Last year i opine that IR hike by 2014, but looking at US and Euro their retarded economy is no better than sub-prime crisis period, of cos some minor improvement but not good enough to stop printing fiat paper money. Hehe, so i revised my forecast upwards that IR hike in late 2015.

Well dear folks, be patient bro my take ppty will correct 1day cos IR cannot be forever at 1%...come 2015, pls use 4% interest rate basis to compute your monthly loan installment..

Actually, it boils down to Timing and Luck. Those bot in 1996 (like myself) and 2007 u would have lost but in long run u make back your money this only happen to property investment. For me i preferred to hold properties and treat them like fixed income with capital upside to tap on when necessary...just my gut feel, u are free to feel otherwise..

[yeokiwi]

Either a high interest rate or mass exodus of foreigners will drive down the price. But either way, most of us will not be better off.

Singapore is essentially a city rather than a country with big mass area. If we look at the trends of metropolitan cities around the world, their property prices will always go in one direction for many years.

http://www.jparsons.net/housingbubble/new_york.html
New york, going up from 1991 to 2007, suffer a crash in 2008 but the price is still higher than in 2003.

http://www.247bull.com/wp-content/upload...e-2013.jpg
London, same. except that the price has again reached the peak of 2007.

http://www.realestate.co.jp/insider-guid...ces-chart/
Tokyo. We all know the Japan bubble in the 90s. But even then, the current price is still around the price at 2003.

http://apm.com.au/
Sydney. never even drop below 2002.

If we end up like US or UK, then maybe we will see the price of properties to drop to 2003 level. But, if Singapore maintains a moderate growth, then the property price is likely to remain stable.

Lastly, an interesting interactive chart from economists
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychar...use-prices

[kazukirai]

Either a high interest rate or mass exodus of foreigners will drive down the price. But either way, most of us will not be better off.

Thanks Yeo-san for the links. Highly informative.
I can't imagine what would happen if there is a double whammy- i/r shoot up together with mass exodus (due to recession) or political posturing.

I think there would be at least two groups that are better off-
1) home buyers (live-in property) that haven't over-extended themselves. This group will be indifferent to a large extent since they aren't concerned about property valuation. Sure it sucks to have your property value fall while you pay a higher mortgage rate but since you aren't looking to sell and aren't over-extended, then it shouldn't be so bad.

2) those looking to buy their first home.

[smallcaps]

Either a high interest rate or mass exodus of foreigners will drive down the price. But either way, most of us will not be better off.

Thanks Yeo-san for the links. Highly informative.
I can't imagine what would happen if there is a double whammy- i/r shoot up together with mass exodus (due to recession) or political posturing.

I think there would be at least two groups that are better off-
1) home buyers (live-in property) that haven't over-extended themselves. This group will be indifferent to a large extent since they aren't concerned about property valuation. Sure it sucks to have your property value fall while you pay a higher mortgage rate but since you aren't looking to sell and aren't over-extended, then it shouldn't be so bad.

2) those looking to buy their first home.

Assuming they haven lost their jobs / can find jobs. I'm afraid I would lose mine if there is such exodus...

[CY09]

Interesting point from all these. Singapore's foreigner intake is one of the main sustaining factors for our property market/economy. So even though our society has anti-foreigner sentiments, it is important to embrace them, otherwise we would be hurt economically.

[kichialo]

Talks of exodus is just fear mongering. Even during the SARS crisis, there wasn't much of an exodus. The only time there will be an exodus will be war. By then even the govt will run away.

[KopiKat]

For those who could remember or especially if you were already working, the AFC was quite bad. Many lost their jobs, including foreigners at both end of the pay spectrum. At the upper end (pay), many expatriates returned to their home country and caused Rentals to drop drastically (IIRC, you could easily rent a 2-rm condo unit for <$800 pm in the suburbs). At the lower end, countries like Malaysia were complaining that we are creating problems of unemployment for them when their citizens got retrenched here, when biz folds or factories closed... Property prices, stocks prices plunged...

For those with a stable job, those were good times to invest, if you have the spare cash and the guts. But, most just felt too fearful as it doesn't look like the worst will be over anytime soon...

IMO, 911, SARS, GFC doesn't seem as bad compared to AFC.

The current ecosystem is a lot bigger and complex now... I think we'll see ghost towns or at least blocks of flats if the AFC type of crisis were to hit us...

PS. My apologies if it sounds like Fear Mongering...

[kichialo]

The AFC was nothing compared to the 1987 recession.