Good morning, a recent global survey has resulted in a list of the world's smartest cities.
The report rated 118 cities around the world, based on a combination of survey results from citizens regarding how well the city used technology, as well as economic and social data from the UN Human Development Index.
🏆 Top 5 Slots - Singapore, Zurich - Switzerland, Oslo - Norway, Taipei City, and Lausanne - Switzerland.
Despite the tech led ranking for smartness, citizens are looking for other signs of true intelligence - more tangible issues like access to affordable housing, employment opportunities, health services, and pollution.
Sneak Peek: Budget 2022 And Real Estate
- Making the affordable housing segment stronger and more accessible to all
- Providing a policy and regulatory framework to kick-start rental housing at scale
- Welding together a mechanism to provide much needed liquidity to stuck housing projects
Quick Recap
Budget 2021 was focussed on affordable house too, having extended the benefit of additional interest deduction on home loans for first-time homebuyers in the segment.
Plus, the period of tax holiday claim on profits from affordable housing projects was extended to March 2022.
What's The Ask?
There are two.
📌 First, there is the long-standing demand to expand the definition of affordable housing to include homes priced over INR 45 lakhs in top Indian metros.
📌 Second, real estate developers want the affordable housing financing scheme to be made available for the mid-segment too.
Singapore Wants To Cool Its Housing Market
Singapore is alarmed by rapidly rising housing prices and just like the trick it pulled off in 2018, housing curbs are coming back.
Coolants Of Choice?
- For citizens: Additional stamp duties for purchasing their second home raised from 12% to 17%; for the third and subsequent property, duties raised from 15% to 25%
- For permanent residents: The rate for buying their second home raised from 15% to 25% and for the third and subsequent property, their stamp duties have been raised from 15% to 30%
- For foreigners: Stamp duties raised from 20% to 30%
- For entities: Stamp duties increased from 25% to 35%
- For developers: Stamp duty on purchase of residential projects raised from 25% to 35%
- For mortgage: The government will also tighten the total debt servicing ratio threshold to 55% from 60%. [This means that a person’s total monthly loan payments, including mortgages, cannot exceed 55% of the individual’s total gross income.]
A Housing Price Check Was Necessary
Per this report, private home prices have risen by about 9% since the first quarter of last year already.
Also, the secondary market for public housing recovered sharply after a six-year decline, rising about 15% over that period.
📈 Driven by demand from HNIs making a beeline for Singapore, home sales worth USD24 billion happened in the first half of 2021, double of what was recorded in Manhattan.
Will The Curbs Work?
🎙 “The measures are something akin to pointing the gun to the sea when the enemy comes from the back. Many of the buyers are first-time buyers, so raising the stamp duties are ineffective as it has been shown.” - Alan Cheong of Savills Plc.
Protect Your Property
🎙 "You want vacation of your property. You take action. Where is that police force? Why are you spending on the police force if you cannot protect your property?" - Justice AM Khanwilkar of the Supreme Court told the Indian Railways.
Context, Please
Per this Live Law report, a bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar was hearing special leave petitions assailing Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana High Courts allowing the eviction of encroachers along railways tracks.
The court said that the railways cannot wash their wagons off this unauthorised settlers plague or blame the state governments.
And the court has good reason to say so because the Indian Railways is empowered to pursue criminal action against such illegal settlers.
Moreover, it also happens to have one of the country's largest and most efficient police forces.
Promise To Report Back
The railway folks have taken notice of the stark reality as well as the court's opinion and have promised to take action, and get back to the court about the efficacy of their eviction drives.
On The Side Lines
Justice Khanwilkar also added that, "All major cities have turned into slums. Let us rise to reality and think how the problem has to be resolved."
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India has approved a USD10 billion incentive plan to pull semiconductor and display manufacturers to its shores.
Under the plan, the Indian government will extend fiscal support of up to 50% of a project's cost to eligible display and semiconductor manufacturers, per Reuters.
🔼 That means more industrial, commercial and logistics real estate is on order.
See you on Monday morning. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai