Kevin Tan
29-03-16, 10:48
http://www.theedgeproperty.com.sg/content/ku-swee-yong-high-homeownership-rate-could-hurt-singapore%E2%80%99s-progress
Ku Swee Yong: High homeownership rate could hurt Singapore’s progress
By Feily Sofian / The Edge Property | March 28, 2016 11:04 AM MYT
Tags: Ku Swee Yonghomeownership
Many market watchers are trend followers. Only a few are visionary. In his fourth book, Weathering a Property Downturn: Defensive Plays for Real Estate Investors, Ku Swee Yong, CEO of Century 21 Singapore and key executive officer of International Property Advisor, shows his uncanny instinct for issues afflicting the property market.
As a real estate salesperson serving buyers, sellers and tenants, Ku is constantly attuned
to the latest market intel while backing his commentaries with official sources
In the book’s preface, Ku says it is easy to blind ourselves to negative news. He is referring to the shrinking trade and manufacturing output, slow population growth and struggling businesses. However, the more pressing question, according to him, is how we, as industry participants and policymakers, can make Singapore attractive again for foreign and local real estate investors.
Against these thoughts, Ku’s latest book compels us to rethink some policies that we typically take for granted. For example, while most of us celebrate the high homeownership rate in Singapore, Ku’s opening chapter highlights the potential risks lurking beneath.
He does not discount the merits of high homeownership rate, which include wealth accumulation and anchoring residents to Singapore. In fact, he opens the discussion with heart-rending statistics that about one in four resident households in Singapore, or 292,800 households, earn less than $3,000 a month (including employers’ CPF contributions).
Ku says he is glad that the government considered the plight of low-income families and rolled out the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. One of the benefits is wealth accumulation for these families as their home appreciates in value.
However, he questions whether these families can monetise the wealth. The truth is, as we approach retirement with our one and only home, whether the price has appreciated or dropped, we will still need it as a shelter, he says. So, in Chapter 1, he suggests some bold alternatives to assist these families.
According to Ku, homeownership rates in the most economically developed nations in the world range at 36% for Switzerland (one of the role model countries for Singapore), 45% for Germany, 64% for the UK, 64% for the US, 61% for Japan and 67% for Australia. At 90%, Singapore’s homeownership rate ranks among the weaker East European countries (see chart).
http://www.theedgeproperty.com.sg/content/ku-swee-yong-high-homeownership-rate-could-hurt-singapore%E2%80%99s-progress
Ku Swee Yong: High homeownership rate could hurt Singapore’s progress
By Feily Sofian / The Edge Property | March 28, 2016 11:04 AM MYT
Tags: Ku Swee Yonghomeownership
Many market watchers are trend followers. Only a few are visionary. In his fourth book, Weathering a Property Downturn: Defensive Plays for Real Estate Investors, Ku Swee Yong, CEO of Century 21 Singapore and key executive officer of International Property Advisor, shows his uncanny instinct for issues afflicting the property market.
As a real estate salesperson serving buyers, sellers and tenants, Ku is constantly attuned
to the latest market intel while backing his commentaries with official sources
In the book’s preface, Ku says it is easy to blind ourselves to negative news. He is referring to the shrinking trade and manufacturing output, slow population growth and struggling businesses. However, the more pressing question, according to him, is how we, as industry participants and policymakers, can make Singapore attractive again for foreign and local real estate investors.
Against these thoughts, Ku’s latest book compels us to rethink some policies that we typically take for granted. For example, while most of us celebrate the high homeownership rate in Singapore, Ku’s opening chapter highlights the potential risks lurking beneath.
He does not discount the merits of high homeownership rate, which include wealth accumulation and anchoring residents to Singapore. In fact, he opens the discussion with heart-rending statistics that about one in four resident households in Singapore, or 292,800 households, earn less than $3,000 a month (including employers’ CPF contributions).
Ku says he is glad that the government considered the plight of low-income families and rolled out the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. One of the benefits is wealth accumulation for these families as their home appreciates in value.
However, he questions whether these families can monetise the wealth. The truth is, as we approach retirement with our one and only home, whether the price has appreciated or dropped, we will still need it as a shelter, he says. So, in Chapter 1, he suggests some bold alternatives to assist these families.
According to Ku, homeownership rates in the most economically developed nations in the world range at 36% for Switzerland (one of the role model countries for Singapore), 45% for Germany, 64% for the UK, 64% for the US, 61% for Japan and 67% for Australia. At 90%, Singapore’s homeownership rate ranks among the weaker East European countries (see chart).
http://www.theedgeproperty.com.sg/content/ku-swee-yong-high-homeownership-rate-could-hurt-singapore%E2%80%99s-progress