Singapore October Home Sales Climb 18% on New Project Offerings

By Pooja Thakur

Singapore home sales rose 18 percent in October from the previous month as developers offered new projects amid declining prices, a government report showed.
Developers sold 765 units last month compared with 648 units in September, according to data released today by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Among developers that began putting up projects was MS Residential Pte, which sold 334 of 400 units at its Marina One Residences in the city’s central business district, according to the URA. Hong Realty (Private) Ltd. sold 34 of 70 units at the Coco Palms condominium project, the data showed.
“It’s a slight recovery because of a new project marketed in the new downtown,” said Nicholas Mak, Singapore-based executive director at SLP International Property Consultants, referring to the Marina One development. “I don’t see a strong recovery. The rest of the
year will be subdued for sales.”
The government began introducing housing curbs in 2009 with some of the strictest measures implemented in 2013, including capping debt at 60 percent of a borrower’s income, higher stamp duties on home purchases and an increase in real estate taxes. Home prices declined for a fourth consecutive quarter in the three months to September, a separate government report showed earlier this month.
Mortgage loan growth of 6.6 percent in August and September was the slowest pace since May 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg based on Monetary Authority of Singapore figures showed.
Under the current loan framework, mortgages shouldn’t push a borrower’s total debt-servicing ratio above 60 percent, the MAS said in June 2013.
Singapore’s housing market may face “fire sales” with mortgage defaults as the curbs hurt home sales and prices, City Developments Ltd. (CIT), the city-state’s second-biggest developer, said on Nov. 12.
An index tracking private residential prices fell 0.7 in the three months to September, bringing the slide in the past year to almost 4 percent.
Singapore home prices need to decline further, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s finance minister said on Oct. 28.