Daily Lessons from Life 04 August 2014 - Parliament: Premature to relax property cooling measures, says Khaw

"Parliament: Premature to relax property cooling measures, says Khaw - The Straits Times 04 August 2014

SINGAPORE - "Such a move could lead to an upswing in demand, which would increase the number of transactions and raise housing prices. This would not be welcome to Singaporean home-buyers, particularly those with aspirations to upgrade," National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan told Parliament on Monday."

This is a no-brainer really.

Lessons for me are:

1. depending on if you have a vested interest on the property prices being higher or lower, what Minister Khaw said will either pleases your or irks you! He is in a no-win situation. He needs to know that and PERSIST in doing 'what is right for the majority of the people';

2. the challenge is: 'the majority of the people are THOSE who already owned properties'. Some bought at the high of a year or 2 ago and they are very upset that the market prices have come down to due the cooling system put in place by the government! So, the 'simple' 'majority' rule does not and should not apply in this case? Well, the answer is: looking at the BIGGER picture, these properties owning folks are just a minority if you compare them to the future generation of Singaporeans who will, or are going to after taking heed of the calls by the government to 'reproduce more Singaporeans';

3. you know something is NOT right when the people with vested interest in properties begin to ask the government to release the cooling system. People like the properties development tycoons. People in the real estate agencies business. So, it is only right that Minister Khaw sticks to his 'gun' and do not relax property cooling measures. When properties prices shot up by more than 50% over the past 3-5 years, a drop of 1-3% cannot possibly be a sign that we are in dire straits!

In any case, as I have reiterated many times, as long as the NEW public flats are 'affordable', it is ok. If the private property market collapse or shot up by 100%, I am none the wiser as it is for the 'people who can really afford to pay higher prices'. As long as the ordinary public can still have affordable public housing, the government is doing the right thing. Forget about public housing assets appreciation. When you have only 1 'home' to stay in, it does not matter if the price goes up or not. UNLESS, you want to downgrade and take the 'capital appreciation gain' for retirement as for the younger folks, their public housing prices could not be enjoying the same type of increase their parents' had!