What’s different about landlords in Singapore, compared to many different countries? The answer, to me, is the degree of tolerance they have for vacancies. Now this definitely isn’t true for every landlord, and it’s anecdotal; but I meet more landlords here who are willing to let a unit go vacant for as long as a year, rather than accept a lower rental rate. That’s partly why Singapore’s rental market can feel oddly “sticky.” Even when the market sentiment weakens, rents don’t necessarily fall very quickly. This is partly due to the strict financing limitations we have, which tend to ensure property buyers are well capitalised: a maximum loan quantum of 75% (of price or value, whichever is lower), the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR), and so on. Alternatively, as one of our readers so bluntly told me once: “If you’re rich enough to have a second property in Singapore, you’re rich enough to keep it vacant.”...