The local property market is on track for a “soft landing”, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.
The housing chief noted that resale flat prices have softened gradually to 2011 levels, with more than half of resale flats transacting close to their market value. “This is a good outcome for both buyers and sellers,” said Mr Wong in a blogpost on Wednesday (Dec 30).
This he attributed to Government efforts to promote home ownership, including ramping up the construction of Housing and Development Board flats and policies targeted at certain demographics.
In 2015, HDB launched about 15,000 new BTO flats, a figure that will rise 20 per cent to 18,000 new flats in 2015. About 26,000 new flats were completed in 2015.
As a result, the BTO application rate for first-timer families applying for 3-room and bigger flats in non-mature estates has stabilised to about 1.6 times. “This means that most of these families would have been able to book their flats in their first attempt,” he wrote.
The more stable market will allow the Government to further enhance housing policies to benefit a broader spectrum of Singaporeans, said Mr Wong.
“Over the coming year, we will continue to monitor the market closely and adjust our building programme when necessary. We will focus on making our housing policies more inclusive and build even better homes for all Singaporeans,” he said.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 30 Dec 2015