Market Report | Lush Dream Home

THE worst is over for the Singapore economy and the labour market has stabilised, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said as he sounded a note of cautious optimism last night.

Although the third quarter should be all right, the outlook beyond it is still unclear, he said, adding: ‘No signs of Christmas orders pouring in yet.’

However, Singapore is well-poised to pick up strongly again because of its comprehensive and decisive response to the downturn, Mr Lee said.

Although the economy contracted 6.5 per cent in the first half of the year, it was not as bad as feared, he noted.

‘The eye of the storm has passed,’ he said.

Latest figures show that the economy grew 20.7 per cent in the second quarter over the first quarter, the first positive quarter after four Continue reading →

A call for self-restraint

Posted on 17 Aug 2009 | Comments Off

WHEN National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan warned against property speculation recently, many – especially those in the real estate business – thought he was being a party pooper coming in to spoil the fun.

He had said: “Some of the practices and habits that you saw in the last property boom are beginning to come back, so I think we’ll have to be careful.”

The note of caution was appropriate and timely, given that we are still in the midst of a recession and headed for negative growth at year’s end, despite the strong comeback of the stock and property markets. And look at how crowds continue to throng showflats, sometimes days ahead of the launch.

Greed is back. Continue reading →