Following last month’s curbs, the government yesterday said it is ready to implement further cooling measures to prevent a property bubble in the market.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that market sentiment in the country has remained bullish, with signs of renewed exuberance at end-2010.
“We will continue to monitor the property market closely and take further steps, if necessary, to promote a stable and sustainable property market,” he said.
Based on data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the resale price index climbed 2.5 percent in Q4, bringing the full-year increase to 14.1 percent.
Overall, prices of private homes in Singapore rose 2.7 percent in Q4 and climbed sharply by 17.6 percent year-on-year, compared with the 1.8 percent increase in the preceding year.
Despite the government’s move to increase the supply of land for private homes, the demand remained strong. The government said it sold land in 2010 that can yield up to 13,300 housing units. It also released land sites that can yield an additional 14,300 units under the H1 2011 GLS programme.
However, around 33,000 unsold units were recorded in the fourth quarter of last year. This was roughly equivalent to three years' take-up of private residential properties.
“Given the current situation of strong economic growth, low interest rates and a lot of liquidity in the market, I think it's not unnatural to expect property prices will remain strong,” said Mr. Mah.
He noted that the latest property measures were not intended to crash the market. Instead, they were meant to prevent property prices from jumping up too quickly.
Mr. Mah also noted that it was specifically aimed at short-term speculators and not home buyers.
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