Singapore’s central bank said low borrowing costs and excess liquidity globally may push the island’s property prices higher again, setting back government efforts to cool the market. There is a risk that financial institutions may ease lending standards and extend more loans to make up for narrowing interest margins, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its Financial Stability Review today....
Market Reports
More Chinese investors are entering the Singapore property market, according to property consultant DTZ. Among non-Singaporeans, mainland Chinese buyers have grown significantly in number from 2009, recording their highest ever share of 20 per cent in the third quarter this year. This puts them on par with Indonesians as the second-largest group of non-Singaporean buyers after Malaysians, who topped with...
Many luxury condominium units in Singapore are still vacant even after completion, as the luxury home market remains quiet in the previous years. According to new data released by property consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), 12 condo projects have been completed this year, each with over 10 units yet to find a buyer as of last month. Out of the 12 projects, 10 are located in the prime areas, with a...
The Ministry of Finance has said that Singapore will need to be "vigilant about the possibility of a property market bubble and take further measures where necessary". Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was responding to queries in Parliament over the possible effects on Singapore of the latest round of quantitative easing by the US. He added that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has "got a good...
Prices at the 646-unit Icon on Gopeng Street reached a new high of $2,515 psf on Oct 15, when a 1,119 sq ft penthouse on the 46th floor was sold for $2.8 million. This breaks the previous record of $2,457 psf in November 2007, when another similar-sized unit on the same floor went for $2.75 million. The new high set at the four-year-old, 46-storey condominium was for a prime unit sold by developer Far...
Singapore is about 700 sq km in size and has roughly 890,000 public housing, 70,000 landed residential and 187,000 non-landed residential units. It is a small country with a small residential property market compared to 100 or more countries. However, the challenge of keeping tab on the physical supply of residential units in Singapore seems insurmountable, especially when trying to estimate future...
Judging from present trends, the landed segment appears to be headed for new highs Six weeks ago, this paper featured my article, Quest for landed property picks up. In it, I touched on the growing scarcity of landed properties in Singapore and its impact on demand and prices. We observed how landed property prices outperformed non-landed prices during this market upturn. Landed home prices rose 43.2 per...
If there is anything remarkable about the recently-released developer sales for last month, it has to be the spectacular return of HDB upgraders to the housing market. In all, 1,597 units were sold during the month, of which about a third or 529 were executive condominiums (ECs). They helped propel developer sales to a dazzling 74 per cent gain over the previous month. The release of new ECs for the...
A handful of private homes nearing completion in the prime Orchard Road area have been re-sold at a loss. A Savills analysis of caveats captured by the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed that nine units bought in 2007 were sold in 2010 at a loss in the sub-sale market. But the bulk of homes bought from 2006 to 2009 - 78 out of 87 - were sold for a profit. The sellers who lost money sold units in...
But overall sales rebound amid rosy economic outlook Sales of new private homes in the suburban area plunged 25 per cent last month from the previous month, likely hit by the return of executive condominiums (ECs), according to analysts. However, growth from other areas lifted overall October home sales to 1,058 units, up 16 per cent from the 911 in the previous month, according to Urban Redevelopment...