Singapore’s 60% property taxes make London and New York cost of living look cheap. Foreign buyers of homes in Singapore are now subject to a 60% stamp duty. This move is expected to deter foreign investment and redirect investment towards places like London and the US.
Post this hike levies of places like London, New York, Hong Kong, and other international hubs have been bettered by Singapore as per Savills.
Head of International Resident Sales at Savills in Hong Kong, Mark Elliott said, “We are pretty adamant that this is not only going to deter but will put a brake on investments. It will be great for London, the US, and other markets.”
For a property worth 5 million dollars foreign buyers will pay 65% in taxes in Singapore. No wonder Singapore’s 60% property taxes make London and New York cost of living look cheap.
This rate is 4% in New York and 15% in London. Singapore’s rates are also almost double that of Hong Kong and Vancouver. This increase in Singapore’s property tax rates is set to benefit Hong Kong.
Mainland Chinese will now look to get luxury residential property in the territory island now. Hong Kong charges only 30% stamp duty. To make things better, if you go on to become a permanent resident later then most of the tax is returned to you which is an effort by the city to attract people.
The move has taken place to prioritize Singapore residents who pay minimum stamp duty on the purchase of the property. There was a feeling that locals were being priced out of the housing market and that this would affect the appeal of Singapore, a less attractive destination as an international financial center.
To back this data the statistics showed that 4.7% of home purchases in the first quarter of 2022 belonged to foreign investors. However, this went up to 7% in the 2023 first quarter. In the previous quarter, the prices of Singapore property went up by just 0.4% but in the most recent quarter, it went up by 3.2%.
Chinese people are the biggest foreign investors in Singapore and it was them who purchased 25% of condos in the country in 2022. They have been the number one investors in the Singapore housing market for the past decade.
Source: Singapore MND Press Release
