ingapore New Private-Home Sales Fall 65% on Month in February
March 15, 2013 00:34 ET (04:34 GMT)
DJ Singapore New Private-Home Sales Fall 65% on Month in February
By Gaurav Raghuvanshi and Chun Han Wong
SINGAPORE--Sales of new private homes in Singapore slumped 65% in February from the previous month as the city-state's latest property-market curbs hurt demand, government data showed Friday.
A total of 708 new private-residential units were sold in February, compared with a revised 2,016 units in January, according to data on the Urban Redevelopment Authority's website.
Sales had risen 43% in January from the month before, despite the introduction of new curbs on the property market on Jan. 12.
Residential property prices in Singapore hit record highs in the fourth quarter of last year, with those of private homes rising 1.8% from the third quarter. In response, the government took steps such as raising stamp duties, increasing down-payment requirements and imposing borrowing caps on certain buyers.
These measures--the seventh set of property controls introduced since September 2009--mainly target foreign investors and local residents who already own homes.
Housing costs have risen almost nonstop since Singapore's economy recovered from the global financial crisis, generating public discontent in recent years. Private-home prices have surged 59% since the market's most recent cyclical trough in the second quarter of 2009.
