Singapore Property Cooling Measures Are Effective says Khaw Boon Wan

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Property cooling measures proving successful: Khaw

We DID it!

Five sites yielding some 2,880 homes have been released for sale, even as the government has pledged that it remains ready to cool the housing market if necessary.

Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan, asked by Members of Parliament yesterday what the government is doing to ensure housing remains affordable, said the cooling measures put in place thus far - including the curb on housing loan tenures - have met with some success. He said: "Both the private property and HDB resale market have shown signs of stabilising."

Specifically, the growth in private property prices has moderated significantly, from 18 per cent in 2010 to 6 per cent last year and to 0.9 per cent in the first three quarters of this year.

On the public housing front, the yearly Resale Price Index growth has also come down; it was 14.1 per cent in 2010, 10.7 per cent last year and 3.9 per cent in the first three quarters of this year. Mr Khaw indicated, however, that the market was not yet out of the woods, going by the uptick in RPI in Q3 2012 - a 2.0 per cent growth from Q2 based on flash estimates.

He added that although the supply of Built-to-Order flats has been significantly ramped up, it will take time for the ramped-up supply to catch up with demand. The government will continue to monitor the public housing market, he said.

Of the five 99-year-leasehold sites launched for sale this month under the government's plans to ensure a significant supply of housing - public and private - in the next two years, two are executive condominium (EC) sites.

The first EC site is next to Flo Residence, at the junction of Punggol Field Walk and Punggol East. Sitting on 153,999 sq ft of land, it has maximum gross floor area (GFA) of about 461,997 sq ft and is expected to yield 435 units. The tender for this land parcel closes on Dec 6.

The second site, located next to Sky Habitat in Bishan St 14, sits on a 120,855-sq-ft plot, and has maximum GFA of 592,189 sq ft, enough for 645 units. The land parcel set aside for Sky Habitat was sold to CapitaLand in February last year at $550 million, or $869 psf ppr. The tender for this site closes on Nov 29.

Another EC site at the Sembawang Crescent- Sembawang Drive junction, measuring 233,760 sq ft, will be launched for tender on Oct 30. It has total GFA of 654,527 sq ft and can yield about 650 units.

Two other sites in Tampines Ave 10, Parcels C and D, were made available for application by developers through the reserve list.

Parcel C is approximately 238,860 sq ft, and has maximum GFA of about 668,806 sq ft. It is expected to contain 680 units.

Parcel D is 168,567 sq ft and has maximum GFA of 471,988 sq ft. It is expected to contain about 470 units.

Source: Business Times – 16 October 2012