Govt must be ready with support if property market worsens: REDAS

The real estate industry has urged the Government to be prepared to take “supportive measures” to prevent a tipping point, if the property market turns volatile and worsens further.

Speaking at the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore’s (REDAS) 55th anniversary dinner on Wednesday evening (Nov 26), the association’s president Mr Chia Boon Kuah added that the looming supply of 68,000 completed new residential units in the next few years is likely to cause home vacancy rates to head towards 10 per cent.

Official figures have put the private home vacancy rate at 7.1 per cent in the third quarter of this year.

“Developers are concerned. Genuine home buyers from the Singapore market have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. The situation poses significant challenges to the property sector, and there could be wider impact. It is in no one’s interests to witness unintended outcomes,” Mr Chia said.

Mr Chia also noted that private home prices have declined in the last four consecutive quarters, while transaction volume has also dropped from 18,000 in 2013 to less than 9,000 expected this year.

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan was guest of honour at the dinner.

Separately, 10 REDAS developers have come together to pilot the association’s developer-centric Building Information Modeling project. The venture will allow those in the industry to share information, improve workflow and raise productivity.

The developers are Allgreen. Bukit Sembawang, CapitaLand, CDL, CEL, Far East Organisation, Frasers Centrepoint, GuocoLand, Keppel Land and Wing Tai. A Memorandoum of Understanding for the project was signed at the anniversary dinner.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 26 Nov 2014

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