Tag Archives: GLS

Supply of private home sites in Singapore to go up

Posted on 6 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Supply of private home sites in Singapore to go up

The Singapore government is boosting the supply of private residential sites in the first half of next year.

It has announced new sites for sale, which could yield over 10,500 homes – the highest number of units since the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme started in the second half of 2001.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday that in deciding supply, it looks at market conditions and medium-term demand.

Demand has been buoyant, with over 5,700 units sold in the third quarter of this year alone – more than the total number in 2008.

While demand has cooled off slightly, following high prices and moves by the government to curb a speculative bubble, observers believe the property market is on the mend.

For the whole of 2009, regular land sales through the confirmed list were suspended due to poor market conditions. But scheduled sales will resume next year, with a site in Buangkok being one of the largest on offer. Continue reading →

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Posted in Property Market / Real Estate

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Excess liquidity at the heart of the problem

Posted on 15 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Excess liquidity at the heart of the problem

With interest rates at a low, investors have few options other than property

CALIBRATION seems to be the operative word in the set of measures announced by the government yesterday to ensure a ‘stable and sustainable property market’.

‘The measures are pretty measured, actually,’ a developer said.

That may be fitting. After all, as National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan noted, while the level of speculation is not yet extreme, the package will help pre-empt excesssive price swings.

The government has taken relatively small steps to try and cool the buying frenzy now, which if left unchecked could develop into a full-blown property bubble that will take more draconian measures to prick – as we saw in the historic May 1996 anti-speculation curbs.

These included taxing as income the gains from selling properties within three years of their purchase, slapping stamp duty on those who sell their residential properties within three years of purchase, limiting permanent residents to just one Singapore dollar housing loan each and banning such loans to non-PR foreigners. Continue reading →

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

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