The recent property-cooling measures are not likely to have a significant impact on the overall property market in Singapore. Property experts speaking at an industry seminar on Thursday said global economic issues play a larger role, and that property prices will ride on positive economic growth. The number of HDB resale transactions may have seen a sharp drop in the week immediately following the...
General
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has released more land for sale on Thursday, September 16. It is releasing 14 land parcels at Sembawang Greenvale for sale under the Confirmed List. Located along Sembawang Road, Sembawang Greenvale is situated next to the established landed housing estates at Straits Garden and Sembawang Straits Estate. URA said the land parcels, located near Sembawang Park and...
The National Development Ministry said prices of resale Housing Development Board (HDB) flats are determined by many factors, and that the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) is only one of them. Since 1989, there have been ethnic quotas in HDB estates to prevent racial enclaves from forming. The ministry said as of September, only 14 per cent of 162 neighbourhoods have reached their quota limits. It added...
MPs speak out in support of the measures aimed at making the industry more professional Parliament yesterday passed the Estate Agents Bill aimed at shaking up the real estate industry and making it more professional. When the new statutory board, the Council of Estate Agents (CEA), starts operation on Oct 22 - it will have the power to set codes of practice, ethics and professional conduct to regulate...
The Singapore housing market was well and alive during the Hungry Ghost Month as demand for new private homes continued to be strong in the month of August, with sales staying above the 1,000 level. Latest figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority revealed 1,248 units were sold last month, a 19-per-cent dip from the 1,549 sold in July. In total, 1,326 units were launched in August with buyers...
Instead, says Mah Bow Tan, Govt making things more equitable for both them and HDB flat owners, alike The recent cooling measures have resulted in an "anomaly", Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim told Parliament yesterday, noting that while a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat owner can own private property after the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP), but a private property owner has to sell his property...
Rental rates in the private property market are poised to rise with the expected influx of some 80,000 foreign workers this year. Analysts said this is because of the shortage of private housing. And the supply situation may not improve this year as only 5,000 private housing units are expected for completion by year's end. The government's forecast on the number of foreign workers here comes on the...
The recent property cooling measures are important to prevent a repeat of the market crash of the late 1990s. That is according to the National Development Ministry, as it addressed critics against the measures in Parliament on Wednesday. The property boom of the 1990s was partly fuelled by what has been dubbed the 'upgrading fever.' That saw more people take on bigger loans in pursuit of new and bigger...
Demand for new private residential properties in Singapore continued to stay strong in the month of August, with sales staying above the 1,000 level. Data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday showed that 1,248 units were sold last month. That is 19.3 per cent lower than the 1,549 units sold in the previous month. Still, the numbers beat market expectations - since August...
Legislation has been passed to set up a new statutory board to regulate the real estate agency industry. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) will start operations on October 22. It will take over the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore's (IRAS) role of licensing estate agents and implement a new regulatory framework...