Singapore says not time to remove property cooling measures

SINGAPORE: Measures to cool Singapore's housing market will not be eased despite the slowing rate of increase in private home prices, local media reported on Thursday, quoting National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

"There have been some calls for their removal but I don't think it is time yet," Khaw told Parliament on Wednesday. Singapore has tightened borrowing requirements and released more land for housing in a bid to stem a sharp rise in home prices.

According to government flash estimates, private home prices in the citystate rose 1.3 percent in JulySeptember from the previous three months the slowest pace in two years.

But while the higher end of the property market appears to be cooling, resale prices for governmentbuilt apartments that cater to the mass market rose at a faster pace in the third quarter due to a shortage of homes in Singapore.

By The Star / By The Straits Times