Daily Lessons from Life 23 December 2013 - Government cannot eliminate property cycle but can try to contain bubbles: Khaw

"Government cannot eliminate property cycle but can try to contain bubbles: Khaw - The Straits Times Dec 23, 2013

The Government cannot "eliminate" the property cycle, but it "can try to keep bubbles less bubbly", National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.

In his post, Mr Khaw included a link to a New York Times article on the housing crash in Ireland.

He wrote: "Housing bubble and its inevitable bust bring huge misery to many. This article talked about the case in Ireland where prices have dropped by 50% since its peak in 2007.

We cannot eliminate property cycle but we can try to keep bubbles less bubbly.

This means taking away the punch bowl when the party is getting hot, much to the unhappiness of sellers and developers. But this is the right thing to do."

Well said. At the same time, more MUST be said.

For me, the lessons are:

1. 'A roof over one's family heads' is a basic promise that any reasonable government will try to provide for its citizens. I am not talking about luxurious accommodation NOR investment property but basic decent living quarters when parents can bring up their kids. Nothing fancy. The entry level housing if you like;

2. how do the government defined 'A property bubble' and decide 'when to intervene' rest with: is there a distinction between a basic public house as a home or a private house as a home or an investment property? what is the intent of the government to have escalating public, and private, property prices? Is it to generate MORE property taxes and conveyance fees? Or to create billionaire property developers and real estate tycoons?

IF it is a public basic house/flat as a home, it MUST be affordable for the level of average income the government jobs' creation program a young couple starting a family are earning.

IF it is a private house/fat as a home or an investment property, it depends on the earning power of the couple or even single person altogether! Leave it to the so-called market forces!

3. if the government believes having an ever escalating property prices is a good thing, then it is easy to fill the supply! I am sure there are easily MORE than 1m multi-millionaires Singapore, the tiny Little Red Dot, can attract from China and India! They are but just 0.01% of their own population!

So, I HOPE Minister Khaw is MORE definite and specific about WHAT PROPERTY BUBBLES he is talking about!! Public housing as a home or Private housing as a home and/or investment?