reporter2
15-11-12, 13:33
http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore/story/hdb-resale-market-improving-khaw-20121115-0
PARLIAMENT: FROM THE REST OF THE SITTING
HDB resale market improving: Khaw
Published on Nov 15, 2012
NATIONAL Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in Parliament yesterday that the overheated housing market is cooling, but it still has some way to go.
The HDB resale market has shown signs of stabilising, with the pace of the rise in prices slowing since 2010, he said in response to a question from Ms Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) on whether the record Resale Price Index (RPI) was a cause for concern.
Mr Khaw said that growth in the RPI has come down from 14.1 per cent in 2010, to 10.7 per cent last year, and to 3.9 per cent for the first three quarters of this year.
However, the index rose a further 2 per cent from the second to the third quarter and hit a record high. A resale flat in Queenstown also became the first such flat to cross the $1 million mark.
Mr Khaw said the continued rise showed that "while things are improving, we still have some way to go".
The Government last month surprised many by introducing a further round of cooling measures, including a 35-year loan limit. It then announced that it would roll out another 6,400 Build-To-Order flats this month in Bedok, Choa Chu Kang, Queenstown, Sengkang and Toa Payoh, bringing its crop of new flats this year to 27,000.
But the effects of these will take time.
"We have implemented a number of measures, but they will take some time to work their way through the market. For example, the global low interest rate will take some time to return to its normal rate and the huge supply of new housing units will only be available over the next two, three years."
ROBIN CHAN
PARLIAMENT: FROM THE REST OF THE SITTING
HDB resale market improving: Khaw
Published on Nov 15, 2012
NATIONAL Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in Parliament yesterday that the overheated housing market is cooling, but it still has some way to go.
The HDB resale market has shown signs of stabilising, with the pace of the rise in prices slowing since 2010, he said in response to a question from Ms Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) on whether the record Resale Price Index (RPI) was a cause for concern.
Mr Khaw said that growth in the RPI has come down from 14.1 per cent in 2010, to 10.7 per cent last year, and to 3.9 per cent for the first three quarters of this year.
However, the index rose a further 2 per cent from the second to the third quarter and hit a record high. A resale flat in Queenstown also became the first such flat to cross the $1 million mark.
Mr Khaw said the continued rise showed that "while things are improving, we still have some way to go".
The Government last month surprised many by introducing a further round of cooling measures, including a 35-year loan limit. It then announced that it would roll out another 6,400 Build-To-Order flats this month in Bedok, Choa Chu Kang, Queenstown, Sengkang and Toa Payoh, bringing its crop of new flats this year to 27,000.
But the effects of these will take time.
"We have implemented a number of measures, but they will take some time to work their way through the market. For example, the global low interest rate will take some time to return to its normal rate and the huge supply of new housing units will only be available over the next two, three years."
ROBIN CHAN