Just a few days ago, I got a friend who wrote this:

“realises that he has missed a window of opportunity, when every man on the street have their own theories on property investment…the next downturn perhaps…..”

And then yesterday, the government announced several measures to cool our property market.

Compared to previous measures, these measures are quite significant and will help to moderate the demand among property investors. Coupled with plans to increase the supply of new flats, hopefully we can prevent a property bubble from developing further.

A summary of the changes are as follows:

1. Increase the holding period for imposition of Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) from the current one year to three years.

2. For property buyers who already have one or more outstanding housing loans at the time of the new housing purchase:

(a) Increase the minimum cash payment from 5% to 10% of the valuation limit; and

(b) Decrease the Loan-to-Value (LTV) limit for housing loans granted by financial institutions regulated by MAS to these buyers from the current 80% to 70%.

Further, HDB has also announced additional restrictions on the co-ownership of HDB flats and private properties.

3. The minimum occupation period (MOP) of non-subsidised flats for resale and subletting of flat will be increased from 3 to 5 years.

4. Buyers of non-subsidised flats will be disallowed from concurrently owning both an HDB flat and a private residential property within the MOP.

All these measures took immediate effect from yesterday.

More details here:

MND Press Release

HDB Changes

The Prime Minister yesterday announced some changes to the current HDB income ceiling of $8000 in his National Day Rally.

Those households earning $8000 to $10000 will be allowed to buy flats under the Design-Build-and-Sell Scheme (DBSS) and executive condominiums. However, they will still not be allowed to buy Build-to-order (BTO) units.

A typical four-room BTO flat costs $300,000, a DBSS flat around $500,000 and an executive condominium around $700,000.

PM Lee also mentioned that there will be 22,000 BTO units to be built next year.

There will also be moves to further cool the property market. These will be announced later today.

HDB to Raise Income Ceiling (Straits Times)

It was reported in Today’s newspaper that Profitable Group, a company providing UK land investment opportunities, was being investigated by CAD.

CAD Steps into Profitable Group Case (Today Online)

The office of  Profitable Group (Plots) was closed when Today visited it yesterday.

The police declined any comments when asked.

Rumors of a raid by CAD were also circulated on the Hardwarezone forum. In the forum, investors who were not paid their proceeds on an investment opportunity called Boron were discussing methods on how to recover their money. Boron is a fuel addictive product and investors were supposed to get a 12.5% returns in a period of 6 months when they invested.

Another investment that was mentioned was called AAA.

Many of these investors could now be left high and dry.

Additional Roporting:

CAD Investigates The Profitable Group (Lianhe Zaobao)

Profitable Plots in CAD probe (Straits Times)

Singapore will unveil the world’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games on 14 August 2010. In conjunction with the event, commemorative coins will be issued and sold.

$10 Gold Proof-Like Coin

1/4oz of 999.9 gold. Mintage of 5,000 pieces.

The $10 Gold Proof-Like Coin features the symbol of the Singapore 2010 emblem and the Olympic rings, which are encircled by spiralling fire and water imagery of the Singapore 2010.

$5 Silver Proof-Like Coin

1oz of 999 fine silver with hologram effect. Mintage of 10,000 pieces.

The $5 Silver Proof-Like Coin features the symbol of the Singapore 2010 emblem and the Olympic rings at the centre flanked by two mascots in vibrant colours.

On the lower circumference is a crescent-shaped hologram featuring repeated patterns of the iconic Singapore lion head. The coin will be sold by itself or in a set framed by four pieces of medallions in coloured finish that feature sport pictograms with local orchids at the rim.

$2 Bi-Metal Brilliant Uncirculated Coin

Brilliant uncirculated condition. Mintage of 30,000 pieces.

The $2 Bi-Metal Brilliant Uncirculated Coin features the striking symbol of the Singapore 2010 emblem on the Aluminium-Bronze core. Two youthful Singapore 2010 mascots, Lyo and Merly, and the distinctive Olympic rings are also featured in vibrant colours.

The coins can be purchased from the Singapore Mint using this order form or one of the retail shops below:

Olympic Superstore

Address: Orchard Road (outside Ngee Ann City)
Opening Hours: Mon – Sun (Daily), 10am to 10pm

Coin City

Address: 51 Cuppage Road #01-07 Starhub Centre
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat: 11.30am – 7.30pm Sun/Public Holiday: 12-5.30pm, close for lunch (2–3pm)
Tel: +65 6339 0886

Coin Gallery

Address: 20 Teban Gardens Crescent
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri: 8.30am – 4.30pm
Tel: +65 6895 0288

Singapore Coins and Notes Museum

Address: 2 Trengganu St, #03-00
Opening Hours: 10.00am – 8.00pm daily
Tel: +65 6222 2486

There was a news report yesterday on the closure of a wine investment company, Assets Wine Management (AWM).

Apparently, the staff of Assets Wine Management (AWM) have been uncontactable since around 15th June 2010. AWM’s office at Duxton Road is also vacated.

Affected investors have gone on to file reports with the police and CASE.

So we have another case of wine investment gone sour. Last year, Universal Asset Group (UAG) also collapsed, leaving thousands of investors stranded.

Avoid unregulated investments that promise you returns that sound too good to be true.

Police reports filed against wine investment firm (Today Newspaper)

Wine Deal Gone Sour (The New Paper)