Latest news with #Singaporeeconomy
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Singapore home sales drop to five-month low on tariff fears
By Gabrielle Ng (Bloomberg) – Singapore's new private home sales fell to a five-month low in May, as global tariff tensions weighed on demand in the trade-dependent city-state. Developer sales dropped for a third consecutive month, with just 311 units bought last month, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday. The outlook for the Southeast Asian financial hub has dimmed, following Donald Trump's push for tariffs and the city-state's economy contracting in the first quarter. Developers have grown more cautious, launching no major projects for sale in May – a pause that further weighed on sales figures. A first-quarter survey of senior real estate executives found that nearly 90% viewed a global economic slowdown as a risk. Their next biggest concerns were job losses and a weakening domestic economy. Singapore faces heightened risks of a recession due to export hits brought on by tariffs, Bloomberg Economics analyst Tamara Henderson said in a report earlier this month. Authorities have adopted a more cautious approach, offering land that could yield 4,725 private housing units in the second half of the year – a 6% drop from the first half. Instead, they expanded the so-called reserve list, where land parcels are only triggered for tender if there's sufficient demand from developers. The market's sluggish performance is expected to persist into June, typically a slow month due to school holidays. One project in the city's east sold fewer than 10% of its 107 freehold units during its launch weekend earlier this month. More stories like this are available on ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Trade worries drag down Singapore's home sales to 5-month low
Singapore 's new private home sales fell to a five-month low in May, as global tariff tensions weighed on demand in the trade-dependent city state. Developer sales dropped for a third consecutive month, with just 311 units bought last month, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday. The outlook for the Southeast Asian financial hub has dimmed, following US President Donald Trump 's push for tariffs and the city state's economy contracting in the first quarter. Developers have grown more cautious, launching no major projects for sale in May – a pause that further weighed on sales figures. People gather along the boardwalk in front of the skyline at Marina Bay in Singapore. Photo: AFP A first-quarter survey of senior real-estate executives found that nearly 90 per cent viewed a global economic slowdown as a risk. Their next biggest concerns were job losses and a weakening domestic economy. Singapore faces heightened risks of a recession due to export hits brought on by tariffs, Bloomberg Economics analyst Tamara Henderson said in a report earlier this month. Authorities have adopted a more cautious approach, offering land that could yield 4,725 private housing units in the second half of the year – a 6 per cent drop from the first half. Instead, they expanded the so-called reserve list, where land parcels are only triggered for tender if there is sufficient demand from developers.
Independent Singapore
22-05-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Singapore economy grows 3.9% in Q1 2025 but full-year outlook cut amid global uncertainty
Depositphotos/obstando SINGAPORE: Singapore's economy expanded by 3.9% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year but with global trade conditions deteriorating and earlier gains expected to ease, the government has trimmed its growth forecast for the rest of the year. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, which saw a 5% increase, the first quarter of 2025 reflects a deceleration. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, the economy shrank by 0.6%, reversing the 0.5% growth seen in the previous three months. In light of these trends, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) revised its full-year GDP growth forecast to between 0.0% and 2.0%, down from its earlier projection of 1.0% to 3.0%. Despite the quarterly contraction, some sectors continued to provide support. Wholesale trade, manufacturing, and finance and insurance were the top contributors to growth in the first quarter. Part of this uptick, particularly in manufacturing and wholesale trade, was driven by front-loading activity—businesses speeding up their imports and exports in anticipation of higher tariffs in the US. However, MTI cautioned that the lift from front-loading is temporary. As global demand cools and advanced shipments taper off, industries such as transportation and storage could come under pressure, especially with slower movement of goods by sea and air. On the domestic front, the picture was less encouraging. Accommodation and food services was dragged down by underperformance in higher-end hotel segments. Retail trade also struggled to gain traction, given a combination of more Singaporeans shopping overseas and growing uncertainty in the job market. The finance and insurance sector is also expected to moderate in the months ahead. MTI pointed to weaker trading activity and a slowdown in payments-related services as indicators of a broader cooling in business sentiment and consumer confidence. The ministry cited external pressures like ongoing geopolitical tensions, particularly the knock-on effects of rising tariffs between the United States and China, as key reasons for the revised forecasts.
CNA
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Singapore maintains 2025 growth forecast at 0-2%; economy grew 3.9% in Q1
SINGAPORE: Singapore has maintained its growth forecast for the year at a range of 0 to 2 per cent, even as data on Thursday (May 22) showed the economy grew slightly faster than expected in the first quarter of 2025. The economy grew by 3.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the first quarter, just above the government's advance estimates of 3.8 per cent. Still, this is a slowdown from a 5 per cent growth in the fourth quarter of 2024. In its press release, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth was largely driven by the wholesale trade, manufacturing, as well as finance and insurance sectors. In particular, growth in the manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors were likely to have been partly supported by front-loading activities ahead of anticipated tariff hikes by the United States. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the Singapore economy contracted by 0.6 per cent, better than the prediction of a 0.8 per cent contraction, but reversing from a 0.5 per cent growth in the previous quarter. The government had in April downgraded Singapore's GDP growth forecast on the back of a 'significant deterioration' in the country's external demand outlook due to the sweeping tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump. Since then, the US and several economies have embarked on trade negotiations. Notably, the US and China have agreed to reduce the tariffs imposed on each other for 90 days while they negotiate a trade deal, MTI said. 'Given the steps taken by major economies to de-escalate global trade tensions, MTI's assessment is that Singapore's external demand outlook for the rest of the year has improved slightly compared to April,' it said. In the US, for example, GDP growth is likely to come in slightly better than projected in April given the 90-day truce in the trade war with China, although growth is still expected to slow for the rest of 2025. Still, MTI cautioned that the global economic outlook 'remains clouded by significant uncertainty'. This includes elevated economic uncertainty which may lead to a larger-than-expected pullback in economic activity as businesses and households adopt a 'wait-and-see' approach before making spending decisions. There is also the risk of a re-escalation in tariff actions, including retaliatory tariffs, that could lead to a full-blown global trade war, it warned. Against this backdrop, the growth of outward-oriented sectors in Singapore is expected to slow over the course of the year. US' tariff measures are likely to "adversely affect" the manufacturing sector given its export exposure to the US market, as well as slowing growth in global end-markets. That said, the transport engineering cluster within the sector 'remains a bright spot', especially given the shift towards aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul works. MTI said the manufacturing sector's slowdown, coupled with weaker global trade, will in turn weigh on the trade-related services sectors. In the wholesale trade sector, sales volumes are expected to weaken as the boost from front-loading activities fades and global trade softens, especially in the second half of 2025. The projected decline in global trade will similarly negatively affect the transportation and storage sector through a softer demand for shipping and air cargo services. Meanwhile, growth in the finance and insurance sector could be weighed down by episodes of weaker trading activity, as well as more tepid business activity and lower consumer spending. The information and communications and professional services sectors could also see muted growth if firms cut back on discretionary spending, such as IT and marketing. Growth in the consumer-facing sectors, such as retail trade and food and beverage services, is likely to remain lacklustre as locals continue to spend abroad and the expected weakening of domestic labour market conditions.
