新加坡楼市逆势松绑 中国资金蠢蠢欲动 Singapore relaxes real estate regulation
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新加坡楼市逆势松绑 中国资金蠢蠢欲动
Singapore relaxes real estate regulation, Chinese capitals eager for actions
从2007年的美国次贷危机爆发至今已经十周年。然而，全球多国楼市并未降温，调控仍是重中之重。不过，新加坡却开始逆势而行，开始放松自美联储量化宽松之后执行的房地产调控政策，一些似乎看到“机会”的资金已经蠢蠢欲动。
作为亚洲的金融中心之一，新加坡曾是各路资金和富豪的置业首选之地，特别是从美国推行量化宽松政策以来，在全世界低利率的影响下，海外买家涌入新加坡房地产市场，推动新加坡成为亚洲房价第二高的城市。
新加坡政府此前曾多次表态，不会放松自2009年以来实施的管控措施，他们担心一旦放松可能导致地产泡沫再起。不过，今年3月新加坡政府宣布将降低印花税税率，随后还放松了一些贷款限制。此前，若卖方持有房屋的时间不到4年就出售，则须缴纳房价4%到16%的印花税，而从3月11日开始，该时限缩短到3年，印花税税率也降至4%至12%。
有分析人士表示，去年新加坡经济增长1.8%，增长势头好于预期。与此同时，新加坡政府一直严格遵守使居民住房和面向海外投资的房地产相协调的建设比例，让新加坡的住房形成了实质上的双轨制，这些因素都是新加坡能够下狠手调控并在此后大胆“逆势而为”的关键。
如果将房价数据进行对比，新加坡的房价跌幅已经有所收窄，今年第一季度新加坡房价环比下跌0.5%。而新加坡房价去年全年下跌3%。那么，调控政策有所放松，新加坡房价会不会“触底反弹”？
这或许还需要时间来证明，但一些资金却似乎看到了机会。据2016年莱坊财富报告显示，尽管房价处于下跌通道，调控仍在持续，但新加坡依旧是亚洲地区继香港之后，高端住宅市场最为火爆的市场。
在新加坡房地产开发商协会最近举办的一次论坛上，与会者的热门话题就是外国开发商积极的土地投标。公开资料显示，今年5月，龙光地产与中国南山集团合资10亿新加坡元（约合7.35亿美元），获得了新加坡政府拍卖的一块住宅用地，该价格创下当地土地交易纪录新高。另据海外媒体报道，新加坡4月的土拍吸引了创纪录的24名竞标者，包括中国建筑(南洋)发展有限公司和马来西亚实达集团有限公司两家海外开发商。根据新加坡市区重建局的数据，今年上半年新加坡核心地带的超高端住宅有四分之一是被中国投资者购买。
对于中国资金的海外投资趋势，高力国际表示投资的焦点有望向亚洲市场转移。未来几年，中国在亚太地区的房地产投资仍将集中在门户城市如香港、悉尼、新加坡等。易居研究院智库中心研究总监严跃进认为，通过布局此类项目可以扩大国际化的经营能力，同时对冲国内市场经营的风险，因此，“此类投资将被持续看好。”此外，第一太平戴维斯的统计数据还显示，保险企业已成为中国在境外进行房地产投资的最主要投资群体，在去年占比超过6成，今年一季度占比已经达到8成。
普华永道亚太区国际税务服务主管合伙人庄树清表示，随着中国企业海外并购的深度与广度不断拓展，相关风险和问题也日益显现。企业需要在透明度及风险管控方面加大管理力度，谨慎布局，重视海外投资的真实性与合规性。
It has been ten years since the subprime mortgage crises broke out in America in 2007. Yet real estate markets in many countries across the world haven’t cooled down and regulation is still priority among priorities. However, Singapore begins to go against the market trend. It starts to relax real estate regulation policy which has been implemented since the US Federal Reserve carried out quantitative easing. Some capitals which seem to see “opportunities” are eager for actions.
As one of financial centers in Asia, Singapore was once the preferred choice for investment of various capitals and rich people. Especially since the US launched quantitative easing policy and with influence of low interest rate all over the world, overseas buyers flooded into real estate market of Singapore, making it the city with the second highest housing price in Asia.
The Singapore government stated repeatedly that it wouldn’t relax the regulation measures which it adopted since 2009 as the country feared potential property bubble. But it announced that it would lower stamp tax rate in March and ease restrictions over loans later. Previously, if house owners sold houses after owning them less than 4 years, they must pay stamp tax which is 4-16 percent of house price. But the time limit was shortened to 3 years and stamp tax rate was lowered to 4-12 percent since March 11.
Analysts indicated that the Singapore’s economy saw a better-than-expected 1.8 percent growth last year. Meanwhile, the Singapore government is always holding on to the construction proportion of resident housing and the real estate specific to overseas investment, forming a double-track system in housing market of the country. These factors are crucial for the country to take bold actions.
Based on comparison of housing price data, the housing price decline of Singapore has been narrowed. It dropped by 0.5 percent in the first quarter of this year when compared with that in the fourth quarter of 2016, while it fell by 3 percent last year. Whether will it rebound from the bottom if regulation policy is relaxed?
It may take time to prove this, but some capitals seem catch sight of opportunities. According to 2016 The Wealth Report of Knight Frank, though housing price was decreasing and regulation was still implemented, Singapore is still the hottest market for luxury residential buildings following Hong Kong in Asia.
The hot topic among attendees at the latest forum held by Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore was that foreign real estate developers were passionate in land bidding. Public information showed that Logan Property Holdings Company Limited and China Nanshan Development Group won the bidding of a piece of residential land from Singapore government at 1 billion Singapore dollars (equivalent to 735 million US dollars), which hit a new high at local land transaction record. It was reported by overseas media that land bidding of Singapore attracted 24 bidders in April, including foreign property developers China Construction Engineering (Nanyang) Development Co., Ltd. and SP Setia. A quarter of luxury houses at heartland of Singapore were purchased by Chinese investors in the first half of this year, according to statistics from Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore.
As for the overseas investment trend of Chinese capitals, Colliers International said that the focus of investment is expected to shift to Asian market. China’s property investment in Asia-Pacific region will still focus on Hong Kong, Sydney and Singapore in next few years. Yan Yuejin, research director of the E-House China R&D Institute, viewed that investing in such projects can improve their internationalized operation ability and offset operation risk in domestic market. Therefore, this kind of investment will continue to be favored. In addition, statistics from Savills, a leading real estate services provider, showed that insurance enterprises have been the major Chinese groups making outbound investment in real estate industry. The proportion of them posted over 60 percent last year and reached 80 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Zhuang Shuqing from PricewaterhouseCoopers said that relevant risks and problems are increasingly prominent as overseas mergers and acquisitions of Chinese enterprises expand. Enterprises need to strengthen management in transparency and risk control, be cautious about deployment, and attach importance to the authenticity and compliance of overseas investment.
Source: Xinhua Finance Agency 丨Shanghai Securities News
Translated by Vanessa Chen