mr funny
23-06-11, 12:45
http://www.todayonline.com/Business/Property/EDC110617-0000490/First-half-private-home-sales-to-top-previous-6-months
First-half private home sales to top previous 6 months
by Ryan Huang Wenwu
04:47 AM Jun 17, 2011
SINGAPORE - More private homes are likely to be sold in the first half of this year compared to the second half of last year, based on figures published by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The URA data shows 6,810 private homes were sold in the first five months of this year. With June sales still pending, the six-month total is set to surpass the second half of last year, when 7,526 units were snapped up. But analysts say this is unlikely to prompt the Government to introduce more property cooling measures in the short term.
They say that without the latest measures imposed in January, the sales in the first six months of this year could have been much higher. "The latest round of cooling measures in January is one of the most severe ones in the history. It still needs time for it to work its way through the system but certainly it has reduced the level of speculation," said Mr Nicholas Mak, SLP International's executive director of Research and Consultancy.
"If the Government rolls out cooling measures every few months, it does give the impression all the previous cooling measures they have implemented are seen to be ineffective," he said.
However, analysts note that the last round of cooling measures may have had an unintended effect of driving up public housing prices.
The cooling measures rolled out in January included the lowering of the loan to value limit for buyers with more than one outstanding mortgage to 60 per cent from 70 per cent.
Another change was the increase in the holding period for the imposition of seller's stamp duty from the three years to four years.
The increased difficulty of getting a second home may have led to fewer HDB resale flats being put on the market as potential sellers delay plans to upgrade to private units. This appears to be reflected in the rising trend in cash-over-valuation (COV)being paid.
For the first quarter, the median COV was S$21,000. According to some industry forecasts, the median COV is currently hovering around S$25,000 and is expected to hit S$30,000 by year-end.
First-half private home sales to top previous 6 months
by Ryan Huang Wenwu
04:47 AM Jun 17, 2011
SINGAPORE - More private homes are likely to be sold in the first half of this year compared to the second half of last year, based on figures published by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The URA data shows 6,810 private homes were sold in the first five months of this year. With June sales still pending, the six-month total is set to surpass the second half of last year, when 7,526 units were snapped up. But analysts say this is unlikely to prompt the Government to introduce more property cooling measures in the short term.
They say that without the latest measures imposed in January, the sales in the first six months of this year could have been much higher. "The latest round of cooling measures in January is one of the most severe ones in the history. It still needs time for it to work its way through the system but certainly it has reduced the level of speculation," said Mr Nicholas Mak, SLP International's executive director of Research and Consultancy.
"If the Government rolls out cooling measures every few months, it does give the impression all the previous cooling measures they have implemented are seen to be ineffective," he said.
However, analysts note that the last round of cooling measures may have had an unintended effect of driving up public housing prices.
The cooling measures rolled out in January included the lowering of the loan to value limit for buyers with more than one outstanding mortgage to 60 per cent from 70 per cent.
Another change was the increase in the holding period for the imposition of seller's stamp duty from the three years to four years.
The increased difficulty of getting a second home may have led to fewer HDB resale flats being put on the market as potential sellers delay plans to upgrade to private units. This appears to be reflected in the rising trend in cash-over-valuation (COV)being paid.
For the first quarter, the median COV was S$21,000. According to some industry forecasts, the median COV is currently hovering around S$25,000 and is expected to hit S$30,000 by year-end.