There are clear indications that the government’s property cooling measures have met with some success, according to National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
Responding to queries from MPs in Parliament yesterday, Mr Khaw said that the government will continue to ensure that housing remains within reach, adding that the property cooling measures, including the restrictive home loan tenures, have been relatively successful.
“Both the private property and HDB resale market have shown signs of stabilising,” he said.
The Minister noted that private property price rises eased significantly to just 0.9 percent in the first three quarters of 2012, a sharp drop from six percent in 2011 and 18 percent in 2010, reported The Business Times.
Moreover, annual growth of the Resale Price Index (RPI) also moderated to just 3.9 percent in the first nine months of this year, compared to 10.7 percent last year and 14.1 percent in 2010.
Separately, Mr Khaw noted that there are enough flats catering to singles and families.
He was responding to a question from Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Liang Eng Hwa, who asked whether there is sufficient supply of public housing to address projected demand and if HDB intends to keep a reserve of surplus flats.
Mr Khaw noted that the housing board has been building 25,000 flats annually over the past two years, even though there were only 15,000 marriages every year. However, the target of 25,000 was retained, considering the higher demand from upgraders, downgraders and second-time applicants.
As for flat-building, Mr Khaw “deliberately ramped it up a little bit higher” as the government considers tweaking a policy restricting singles from buying HDB flats.
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