Some property developers are providing "incentives" to home buyers in response to the government's latest round of cooling measures which is expected to hit the market hard.
For instance, Frasers Centrepoint Homes announced that it will be offering discounts to buyers of Q Bay Residences, a new condominium development launching in Tampines this weekend. The project is being jointly developed by Frasers Centrepoint, Far East Organization and Sekisui House.
Moreover, when the December 2011 ABSD measures first came into effect, developers were offering various discounts to offset the effects of the stamp duty hike. One condo project in Pasir Ris may have even been discounted by up to 14 percent at the time.
In a forum letter to The Straits Times this week, one reader wrote: "By professing to absorb the stamp duty increase, it is possible for developers to keep supporting the headline price (it could even be higher), even though the actual prices that end-buyers see, after rebates, are in fact lower than before."
The reader added: "For any set of measures to be truly effective, the authorities should be alert to any "creative" marketing and sales tactics that could potentially be adopted by the developers and sales staff." Full story
