S'PORE HOUSEHOLDS MORE RESILIENT TO ECONOMIC CRISIS

S'PORE HOUSEHOLDS MORE RESILIENT TO ECONOMIC CRISIS

Nov 22, 2011

Singaporean households are more resilient and can weather the uncertain global economy.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in its Financial Stability Review for November, revealed that household capital was driven by rising property prices.

The “broad-based growth of the Singapore economy has underpinned the recovery of the property market in the past three years, as household net wealth continued to improve from its trough” in Q1 2009, it said.

Household net wealth, which refers to household assets less household debt, hit S$1,247 billion in Q2, around 27 percent higher compared with Q2 2008. Meanwhile, property holdings climbed 13.4 percent to S$738 billion in Q3 this year.

The increase was “largely due to the higher value of property holdings as the property market continued on an upward trend”, said the MAS.

Info courtesy - PropertyGuru

HDB FLAT BOOKINGS UP 32%

HDB FLAT BOOKINGS UP 32%

Nov 21, 2011

As Singapore recovers quickly from the economic crisis, more home buyers in the red-hot public housing market have been snapping up flats in the past year.

However, the government's cooling measures have affected the resale market, as reflected in the decline of resale flat transactions.

A recent report showed that potential buyers booked 17,419 flats in the year ended March 2011, up 32.2 percent from 13,177 in the previous year.

In contrast, the number of applications for resale flats dropped 23.5 percent, from 39,320 to 30,061.

The HDB launched 12 Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercises in response to the strong demand, offering 17,294 flats, up 54 percent from the 11,212 units launched last year.

HDB CEO Cheong Koon Hean said it has the potential to do more.

“I hope to build on the depth of knowledge that has accumulated over five decades... and make further inroads,” she said.

She noted that “HDB is also looking at injecting greater social and economic value where residents will be actively engaged in shaping the future of their town” beyond the existing architecture, design and innovations.

Info courtesy - PropertyGuru

S'PORE HOME LOANS FEEL IMPACT OF COOLING MEASURES

S'PORE HOME LOANS FEEL IMPACT OF COOLING MEASURES

Nov 21, 2011

The number of new housing loans and property deals in Singapore declined after the last round of cooling measures implemented in January this year, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The MAS’ latest Financial Stability Review report showed that new housing loans dropped to S$12.4 billion in Q3 while outstanding housing loan growth eased to 18 percent year-on-year in Q3, down from 23 percent in Q4 last year.

The report noted that the key drivers behind the moderation were decreases in both sub-sale and resale activities.

“The policy measures taken by the government appear to have dampened the momentum in the private residential property market somewhat,” said the MAS.

Info courtesy - PropertyGuru

SECOND MORTGAGES ON THE DECLINE IN S'PORE

SECOND MORTGAGES ON THE DECLINE IN S'PORE

Nov 17, 2011

Latest figures from Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS) suggest that speculative investors intending to profit from the country’s residential market are cutting back on their purchases, in light of the government’s cooling measures.

Gathered from a number of financial institutions, the figures show a considerable decline in the number of buyers taking out new property loans in addition to existing loans.

Data from the CBS noted a 33 percent drop from January to August, 38 percent lower than for the whole of 2010.

Info courtesy - PropertyGuru