Singapore home sales fell to the lowest this year in November as the government’s lending curbs stemmed purchases.
Developers sold 412 units last month compared with a revised 785 units in October, according to data released today by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. That’s the lowest since December, when 259 units were sold.
The government began introducing residential property curbs in 2009 with some of the strictest measures implemented in 2013, including a cap on 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 Sept. 30, a separate government report showed in October.
“The softening effect of the measures introduced last year had a wide and deepening effect on buyers’ sentiment,” said Donald Han, managing director at
Chestertons, a real estate broker in the city-state. “They are more reluctant now to take positions.”
Mortgage loan growth at 6.4 percent in October was the slowest pace since May 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg based on Monetary Authority of Singapore figures showed.
Singapore’s housing market may face “fire sales” with mortgage defaults as the government’s property curbs hurt home sales and prices, City Developments Ltd., the city-state’s second-biggest developer, said on Nov. 12.
Singapore home prices need to decline further, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s finance minister said on Oct. 28.
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