Singapore home sales hit 2.5-year low as cooling curbs begin to bite
- Analysts had expected demand for real estate in the city state to wane because of the recently introduced borrowing restrictions
- But they say property buyers, sellers and developers ‘will adjust their expectations’ as cooling measures become part of cost of conducting business
New privately owned apartments sold by developers fell to 312 units in October, Urban Redevelopment Authority figures showed on Tuesday. That was about one-third of the 987 sold in September.
Analysts had expected demand to wane because of the borrowing restrictions, as well as a cloudy economic outlook and a lack of new project launches in the fourth quarter.
The curbs could discourage financially stretched buyers from participating in the property market, said Nicholas Mak, the Singapore-based head of research and consultancy at APAC Realty Ltd. unit ERA.
“Some homebuyers would either have to buy within their financial means or exit the market,” he said.
Demand in the second-hand residential market also fell last month. The volume of private apartments resold slumped about 12 per cent, according to online real estate portals SRX and 99.co. Resales of public flats owned by the Housing & Development Board plunged 24 per cent.