Singapore prices to keep rising
Luxury home prices in Singapore will continue to rise despite government measures to cool the booming sector, according to a local developer.
Strong demand, limited supply, low interest rates and a sound economy supported the real estate sector, Edmund Cheng Wai-wing, deputy chairman of property developer Wing Tai Holdings, said. 'I don't see prices falling at all,' said Cheng. He believes prices of luxury homes will continue to grow. Cheng said interest rates stood at extremely low levels and this trend was unlikely to turn around in the next 12 months.
Singapore's gross domestic product grew 24 per cent in the second quarter from the first quarter. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said GDP would grow between 13 per cent and 15 per cent this year.
Last week, the Singapore government announced measures to cool rising prices. They included increasing the holding period for the imposition of the seller's stamp duty introduced earlier this year to three years from one year.
Buyers who held more than one mortgage could only borrow up to 70 per cent of a property's value, compared with 80 per cent previously, and pay 10 per cent in cash, up from 5 per cent, the government said.
Singapore private property prices have increased 34 per cent in the year to June, according to a global survey of house prices conducted by the Global Property Guide.
Cheng said mass housing would see a slowdown in sales. His comments came as Wing Tai prepares to relaunch its high-end residential development, Belle Vue Residences, in Singapore.
The developer said the selling price of the 67 remaining units would range from S$2,300 (HK$13,300) to S$2,800 per square foot. Among the buyers so far, half were foreigners.
