Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister has indicated the cooling measures are likely to remain in place despite signs the property market could be stabilising.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam said the measures were intended to stabilise the market and possibly lead to some softening of prices.
“Longer term, our intention is to try as best as we can, although it’s difficult, to have prices not run away from incomes," he said.
“The market as a whole is seeing some stabilisation…We’re not ready yet to lift our measures or ease up on our measures so we’re watching the market and have to make judgements without announcing our policy moves well in advance.”
The cooling measures were introduced, in part, in response to low interest rates across the globe and high liquidity within Singapore asset markets.
In June, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) rolled out new loan rules capping monthly repayments at 60 percent of income, in a move designed to complement the cooling measures.
Mr Tharman said the measures were intended to support Singapore’s economic objectives while maintaining interest from foreign investors.
“It’s not a closed-door policy because Singapore has to remain an open market…But we’ve put some sand in the wheels, a fair bit of sand in the wheels, and it’s having some effect at the top end,” he said.
“Most of the demand for property in Singapore has been a search for yield rather than a search for a place to keep ill-gotten money…They’ve got enough islands in the world to keep their money stashed away.”
Amy Kelly, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email amy@propertyguru.com.sg
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