I have been preaching the Propertism religion to deaf ears, but now the Government has come up with measures to encourage Propertism!
Propertism Rule No. 1 - Properties should only be bought. Not sold.
I always believe that property prices will go up in the long term, to whatever levels they rightfully belong, whether or not there are speculators in the market.
For example, surely there is no way that a 30,000 sq ft Queen Astrid Park GCB asking $500,000 in 1977 can still be priced at $500,000 today. Otherwise everyone who stays in an HDB flat will be able to afford a GCB!
How can that be? There are simply not enough GCBs to go around.
Unfortunately, the seller's stamp duty of up to 3 percent is, in my view, not enough to enforce strict Propertism behaviour in everyone.
I would like to see a higher stamp duty like 30 percent for the first 10 years; 20 percent for the next 10 years; 10 percent for the next 10 years; and zero percent thereafter.
It would be even better if the seller's stamp duty applies to developers selling condos and HDB selling BTO flats as well. This will instill a discipline to all the developers, including HDB, to hold on to their properties like what Far East had been doing, and sell slowly, trickle by trickle, over many many years.
In fact, if a 30 percent stamp duty is whacked on all sellers, including developers and HDB, there will be hardly any new flats for the next 30 years (unless the buyers are willing to absorb the developers' or HDB's stamp duty). There will be no more new BTO HDB flats for next 30 years, and no more new condo launches.
The only people who can sell properties without paying stamp duties will be those few who have held on to their properties for more than 30 years!
Another source of supply will be Far East, which has some properties like The Bayshore which had been around for 10+ years, so their stamp duty will be only 20%, giving them pricing advantage relative to other developers.
Those who practice Propertism should be rewarded.
Can you imagine what will happen to property prices in Singapore?