Singapore home sales jump to five-month high despite new curbs

Yahoo

13 hours ago

By Low De Wei
(Bloomberg) – Singapore new home sales rose to their highest level since February despite the introduction of new curbs, in an indication of renewed buying demand in the city-state.
Developers sold about 940 private units in July, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority released on Friday. That's more than three times higher than June. There was also a significant spurt in homes launched for sale in July to 1,675 compared with just over 100 a month prior.
Despite having one of the world's most expensive real estate markets, local buyers, buoyed by an intergenerational transfer of wealth and falling lending rates, have sustained a boom for private units, which are usually sold years ahead of completion.
The surge has concerned authorities, especially with a trend of buyers investing in new units only to flip them in a few years. That prompted an increase in a stamp duty on sellers in early July, adding to a slew of measures in recent years, including increasing a buyers' tax on foreigners in 2023.
The most recent changes targeting sellers was 'not too serious,' Chia Ngiang Hong, the group general manager at developer City Developments Ltd. said at an earnings briefing on Wednesday. 'Many of the buyers nowadays are locals and they are buying for investment, long-term investment or owner-occupation,' he said.
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