THE EFFECT OF PROPERTY COOLING MEASURES ON THE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY FOR SINGLES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Housing affordability has always been a key concern for the majority of Singaporeans once they reach into adulthood. In this society where everyone wants to have a more independent lifestyle and move out from their parents in their late twenties to early thirties, there will always be a high demand for housing. In a land scarce city like Singapore, the government will always have to look into ways to build more houses and create more land. However, there will only be this much land and space in Singapore, resulting in limited land supply. To “calm down” this demand for houses in Singapore, the government decided to come out with property cooling measures which first started in 2009. Over the years, our government has made amendments to the cooling measures to ensure that demand is moderate and that resale flats remain affordable for buyers. In this paper, we will research on whether these measures still ensure that houses are made affordable, especially for singles. This study shows how the housing affordability of singles are affected by the various property cooling measurements set by the government. However, there are factors such as age and educational background which affect the purchasing power of singles as well due to the level of income. An online survey was done with 30 participants to get an understanding of how property cooling measures affects them.