National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said there are signs that measures to cool the property market have taken effect.
There has been at least a 20 per cent drop in HDB resale transactions this quarter while Cash-over-Valuation (COV) is down some 10 per cent from the third quarter.
Mr Mah was speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of the SkyVille@Dawson and SkyTerrace@Dawson on Saturday morning.
Public housing prices have started to ease since property cooling measures were introduced in August 30 this year.
Mr Mah said HDB resale transactions have gone down by at least 20 per cent so far this quarter.
Average transactions for the last three quarters were about 8,000 to 9,000 per quarter.
He said COV figures have also dropped by more than 10 per cent from around S$30,000 in the third quarter to about S$25,000 last month.
Mr Mah said: “With COVs coming down, I think it’s good for first-time buyers who want to buy a resale flat in a particular area. And of course with transactions coming down, it does mean there will be more opportunities for first-time buyers to come into the market.”
“So all in all, I would say the cooling measures have started to take effect. But the overall impact is still too early to tell. I think we’ll wait a few months more.”
Mr Mah said private property prices have also moderated, with price increases at about 3 per cent, compared to 5 per cent in previous quarters.
Private property transaction volumes also went down sharply in September after measures were introduced.
But with increasing liquidity and measures also being taken in other property markets overseas, Mr Mah noted there may be more funds entering Singapore.
This could create pressure for prices to go up.
“Based on the outcomes, based on how the market is reacting at the moment, we think it is a bit too early for us to do anything. So we will wait for a while. But we are watching it constantly,” said Minister Mah.
Mr Mah also unveiled the Dawson Landscape Masterplan to residents of Dawson estate, a step towards realising the “housing in a park” concept announced in 2008.
They will enjoy enhanced pedestrian and cycling connections and environmentally-friendly features like rain gardens to collect rain water.
While some residents appreciated the changes, others felt more could be done.
“The canal is quite good because I can cycle around here, so it’s another form of exercise. And it links all the way to Great World (City) and further down, so it’s quite good for jogging,” said 25-year-old Tee Eng Hua, a Dawson Estate resident.
“What is lacking here is we have only a very small Dawson shopping place. They could have built a bigger one, now that SKyTerrace and SkyVille are coming on board,” said Dawson Estate resident Loh Kok Yew.
Mr Mah also announced that HDB will launch the tender for the first mixed commercial-residential site at Punggol Town Centre next week.
The new development will be next to the Punggol Waterway and Punggol MRT.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 27 Nov 2010