It is unnatural to expect property prices to remain strong, given the strong economic growth, a lot of liquidity and low interest rates, said Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan.
He said that the property measures implemented on 13 January, which was the fourth set of cooling measures in 16 months, was meant to curb the market and not to “crash it”. He added that it is too early to predict the impact of these measures.
Meanwhile, according to the Census of Population 2010, more households are now living in bigger homes. This reflects the increasing affluence of the Singapore population.
Nearly 25 percent of residential households were living in three-room or smaller HDB flats in 2010, down from 31 percent in 2000, while four-room HDB flats remained the most common housing type for households last year at 32 percent.
The shift to bigger residential homes was attributed to the growing household income, with median monthly income rising to S$5,000 in 2010 from S$3,640 in 2000. This represents an average growth rate of 3.2 percent.