Tag Archives: Singapore Real Estate

Cooling measures fairly successful

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) macroprudential measures are said to have achieved “some degree of success” in cooling the property market and will be tweaked depending on market conditions.

At a dinner organised on Tuesday by the Asian Bureau of Financial and Economics Research, Ravi Menon, Managing Director for MAS, said these measures boost monetary and financial supervisory policies to help achieve financial stability and sustainable prices.

However, he noted that MAS faces major challenges ahead when implementing such policies.

Externally, these include low interest rates and a “wall of money” that could create a property bubble. This in turn could impact Singapore’s financial stability and consumer price affordability.

Nonetheless, “property prices finally appear to be stabilising” because of the central bank’s measures, with residential prices slipping below two percent in Q2 2013 compared to the previous quarter.

“Singapore’s fundamentals remain sound. Fiscal prudence, financial discipline, minimising debt and living within our means will provide us policy space and buffer to weather whatever comes ahead. This is an advantage most countries do not have,” added Menon.
Source – PropGuru – 22 May 2013

Condo sales heat up

New mass market projects launched last weekend received strong interest from home buyers, reported The Straits Times.

The 380-unit Stratum sold 190 of the 250 units released under its initial phase. The 99-year leasehold project by Elitist Development was launched at around S$900 psf.

Roxy-Pacific Holdings’ 121-unit Whitehaven sold close to 70 units at average prices of S$1,470 and S$1,480 psf, said Chief Executive Teo Hong Lim.

Meanwhile, the 336-unit Corals at Keppel Bay sold over 80 of the initial 100 units at its preview. Prices ranged from S$1,800 to S$3,000 psf. Most of the buyers were Singaporeans with one- to three-bedroom units being snapped up.

The report added that the condo development will be launched this weekend. Corals is the third project developed by Keppel Land on its Keppel Bay site, following the 969-unit Caribbean at Keppel Bay and 1,129-unit Reflections project.

Moving forward, more developments will be launched this month, including the 142-unit KAP Residences at King Albert Park – a project by Oxley Holdings, and Roxy-Pacific’s 64-unit Liv on Sophia.

The 12-storey NeWest mixed development on West Coast Drive may also come on to the market soon along with the 118-unit cluster housing project Belgravia Villas in Ang Mo Kio which would likely be priced from S$2.9 million.

Source – PropGuru – 22 May 2013