Daily Archives: 14 Sep 2009

Govt acts to cool market

Posted on 14 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Govt acts to cool market

New home sales in Singapore have shot through the roof recently. Resale prices of many popular projects have also risen from the lows early this year.

MEASURES TO ENSURE A STABLE AND SUSTAINABLE PROPERTY MARKET

THE Government has introduced new measures to prevent the fast-rising private property market from overheating.

It is removing the interest absorption scheme, which allows buyers to defer the bulk of their purchase price until the property is ready for occupation, with immediate effect. Only those uncompleted private projects where the units have already been offered for sale under this scheme can continue to do so.

It is also taking away the interest-only housing loans. These two schemes are forms of housing loans that entirely eliminate or substantially lower regular instalment payments for property purchasers in the first few years before the properties are completed.

They could thus encourage property speculation in a buoyant market where prices are rising rapidly, said the Government in a joint release on Monday.

The removal of both schemes comes into immediate effect. Continue reading →

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Posted in Loan / Mortgage / Finance, Property Market / Real Estate

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Singapore moves to cool down property market

Posted on 14 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Singapore moves to cool down property market

Singapore on Monday announced measures to curb speculation in the red-hot property market after warnings that a new housing bubble might be forming.

The Ministry of National Development signaled it was ready to sell more state land for property projects, and announced an end to bank loan schemes that let buyers put down just 10 or 20 percent of a home’s assessed value.

“Demand for uncompleted private housing units has picked up strongly since February 2009,” the ministry said in a statement.

The 10,017 units sold by developers in the first seven months of 2009 had already exceeded the 4,260 units sold for the whole of 2008, the ministry’s statement said.

Singapore’s economy is officially forecast to shrink by four to six percent in 2009, but the city-state is now technically out of recession and back on a growth path.

Analysts say the current property frenzy is largely driven by people who were unable to buy homes when prices spiralled in 2007 and then again in 2008 when a global banking crisis exploded.

After Monday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore will no longer allow developers to offer cut-price mortgages such as interest-only loans for uncompleted residential projects, the government statement said. Continue reading →

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Posted in Property Market / Real Estate

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