Measures to cool property market appear to have worked: Mah
By Yasmine Yahya
SINGAPORE: The government said on Monday the measures taken to cool the property market appear to have had the desired effect.
Speaking in Parliament, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan noted that since the measures were introduced, the sale of private homes fell 37 per cent on-month in September, and another 29 per cent in October.
In September, the government removed the Interest Absorption Scheme and Interest-Only Loans to temper the exuberance in the property market and to prevent a bubble from forming.
The government has also resumed land sales under the confirmed list of its land sales programme in the first half of 2010.
Mr Mah said the government will continue to monitor the property market closely to assess the market’s response to the measures introduced before deciding whether further measures are needed.
“Our key interest is to ensure that property prices and rentals remain competitive and move in line with economic fundamentals. We want to curb erratic spikes in prices due to excessive speculation, inaccurate information or market manipulation,” the national development minister said.
“But we must let market forces determine prices, based on genuine demand from home-buyers and investors.”
Mr Mah added that the measures introduced in September have also helped to control speculative activity. Government records so far indicate that the number of sub-sales today is not as high as it was during the height of the property market boom.
Sub-sales are closely watched as a gauge of speculative activity in the property market.
Mr Mah said the government may remove the cooling measures in future if the property market stabilises or weakens, but it is too early to say when that might happen.
- CNA/so
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 23 November 2009
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