Singapore home sales post slowest start since 2009

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s home sales slid in January, marking the slowest start to the year since 2009, as developers sold fewer projects after property curbs crimped demand.

Home sales declined 72% to 565 units last month compared with 2,028 in the same period a year earlier, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority released yesterday. The number of units sold was the lowest in the month of January since 2009, when 108 were sold in that month, the data showed.

“There were very few projects marketed last month as developers with smaller projects stayed away from the market on weak buyer sentiment,” said Alan Cheong, a Singapore-based director at Savills plc. Home sales in the quarter could be as low as 1,000 units, he added.

The government introduced loan measures in June as it widened a campaign that started in 2009 to curb speculation. Singapore’s property market is stabilising and the country isn’t facing a credit bubble that puts the island or its banking system at risk of a crisis, the central bank said on Jan 15.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, in a Feb 10 statement, broadened exemptions from borrowing limits for homebuyers who bought properties before the June rules were introduced, making it easier for those buyers to refinance mortgages. — Bloomberg


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 18, 2014.