Although property prices remain high, the government does not intend to introduce a new set of cooling measures for now as prices are moving the right way, it was reported in The Straits Times.
“We’re not planning another round of measures, but it depends on market conditions,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
“We’re determined to achieve our objective of having prices come down relative to incomes. And that can be achieved both through income growth as well as some stabilisation or even cooling of prices.”
Mr Shanmugaratnam’s comments come in response to concerns that the authorities may be planning more cooling measures to manage inflation.
The Minister believes that “there is bound to be some softening in prices” moving forward as more new homes are released into the market over the next two years.
Nevertheless, he did not rule out the possibility of additional curbs if needed, adding that other measures may be used to stabilise the property market, such as tightening criteria for banks giving out loans.
“Whether we do anything more on the MAS front, on the fiscal front, or on supply measures depends on market conditions. We don’t rule out any measure,” he noted.
The government has so far introduced seven rounds of cooling measures to regulate the red hot property market. These latest remarks are expected to ease speculation on the likelihood of another round of rules coming soon.
“This will help reassure the market that the government is working to find a level of sustainable prices in the long term, but will not bring it down with a sledgehammer,” stated Donald Han, Special Adviser at HSR Property Consultants.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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