The Minister for National Development, Lawrence Wong, inspected the newly finished build-to-order (BTO) project called Tampines Greenlace last Wednesday, according to Business Times. He also met with a number of families who just moved in. Afterwards, he told reporters that the housing market in Singapore is already stable and at such point, the market is already stable enough to be "recession-proof." Needless to say it is stabilizing at a rate relaxed enough to avoid inflation. It was however reported that it was too early to tell, though.
Moreover, Mr. Wong has shared that higher interest rates and a slower economy has become prevalent at the beginning of 2016. Thus the government might have to be extra vigilant in monitoring the market conditions. In the light of this, Wong said, "It may affect demand, but we are watching all these indicators very carefully, and will make adjustments when necessary."
According to Business Times, official data reflects stabilizing prices for both private and public housing. More specifically, Prices of Housing & Development Board (HDB) apartments dropped by 6 per cent in 2014 and then down by another 1.8 per cent for three quarters of last year. According to Mohd Ismail, PropNex chief executive, prices could stay the same of fall 1 percent in 2016.
On other hand, private home prices dropped by 4 per cent in 2014 and 3.2 per cent for the first three quarters of last year. In this sector, Mr Ismail expects a 3-4 per cent decline in 2016.
Also, according to BT, Mr. Wong has also declared that that the HDB would unveil 18,000 new apartments in 2016 to house the more occupants as a result of the new policies announced this 2016. The said new policies include new two-room apartments with flexible rents among others.
Mr. Wong believes that I the indicators are positive, looking at the market. He added, "They are very healthy."
