Due to increased extra buyer’s stamp duty rates for foreign purchasers, Singapore’s current property cooling measures have impacted sales of construction company Tiong Seng’s projects in Balmoral and Orchard respectively.
Nonetheless, the mainboard-listed firm is hopeful that the return of foreign tourism, as well as the proximity of the two buildings, Sloane Residences and Cairnhill 16, to outstanding schools and facilities, would promote additional sales.
Tiong Seng answered to Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, concerns concerning its annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 on Sunday.
Sias had inquired about the impact of the government’s cooling measures on the construction firm’s Singapore projects.
According to Tiong Seng’s response, the current measures caused prices and transaction volume of non-landed private dwellings to fall in the first quarter of this year.
Homes in the core center area, where the two developments are situated, were “hardest impacted” by the cooling measures, according to Tiong Seng, which included increased extra buyer’s stamp duty rates for foreign purchasers.
Sloane Residences is a 12-story freehold condominium on District 10’s Balmoral Road. According to Tiong Seng, 20 units out of a total of 52 had been sold. When the project is finished in mid-2022, it anticipates sales of the remaining units to ramp up, with homes ready for purchasers to move in.
Cairnhill 16, a 15-story freehold condominium at 16 Cairnhill Rise in District 9, has yet to sell any of its 39 apartments. Early this year, sales and marketing began, and the project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.
Sias also demanded that Tiong Seng explain the $20.2 million impairment loss resulting from its property development business in China, notably the $17.5 million in provision for deterioration in value of development assets by the various projects.
The $17.5 million came from undeveloped property in Tiong Seng’s Equinox project in Tianjin, China.
Before the news, Tiong Seng’s stock ended unchanged at $13.9 cents.
