Developers are truly greedy despicable cheats... inflating the caveat price, hiding the true price, manipulating the property price index , and lying about the actual sales numbers to consumers. And the unknowing consumers upon seeing the inflated caveat prices from the developers' price deception and manipulation, ended up being conned to pay more to the developers for their units.
http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/...rices-20130126
Straits Times Forum
Published on Jan 26, 2013
PROPERTY SALES
Concerns over practice of inflating prices
HAVING visited several property launches over the past year, I wish to share some observations ("Tough action to cool property market"; Jan 12).
To create a rising price scenario, developers commonly mark up the selling price of their units, and then offer discounts or rebates in the form of furniture vouchers and stamp duty refunds.
As buyers, we are advised to lodge caveats based on the higher price before the discounts and rebates, so that we can qualify for higher bank loans.
While most banks require buyers to declare the purchase price and discounts, many people do not do so in order to qualify for higher loans.
This benefits the developers as it will show an increase in the residential property price index, which in reality may not be the true price transacted.
Unfortunately, this strategy of price manipulation has now spread to the resale market.
Of late, some owners who may have bought several units in new launches are now offering refunds and cashback.
As is the case for new launches, a buyer must agree to lodge the caveat based on the seller's inflated asking price, and refunds via a cashier's order will be given on the completion date.
The price lodged in the caveat requested by the seller is to support the bank valuation as well as show price increases to generate future sales for the seller.
This is a grey area that I hope the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) can address as it may have legal implications.
I also encourage the URA to conduct thorough checks on claims by developers of their projects selling like "hot cakes".
This is because when one checks the URA's actual sales figures later, they are often lower than what was initially claimed.
It would be helpful if the URA could publish a monthly update of all recent project sales and units left unsold.
Lastly, I thank The Straits Times for publishing both the caveats and actual rental prices of private properties. This is a positive step as it allows for transparency and helps buyers and tenants make informed decisions.
David Lim Beng Heng