Desmond Lee: Gov’t needs to continue intervening in property market

Second Minister for National Development Desmond Lee is pushing for continued government intervention to keep the property market stable and sustainable.

He addressed over 680 participants during the 60th anniversary dinner of the Real Estate Developers’ Associate of Singapore (Redas) held at The Ritz-Carlton, Millennia.

“We cannot take a hands-off approach to the property market, because our experience here and abroad has shown that left to itself, (the market) tends to go through large price swings, which harms genuine home buyers and home owners,” he said as quoted in an initial report by the Straits Times.

He said that developers concerned about the ongoing issues of high supply and low demand for property should initiate dialogue with the government in order to “help shape policies which are pro-enterprise and pro-business.”

Read: Gloomy property market outlook for Singapore in the next 2 years

He also noted that developers prioritise creating “green buildings” to mitigate and address the risks and realities of climate change in the country.

Lee shared that despite the initial uncertainties in the property market like private housing prices and land bids during the first half of 2019, the market is now “growing at a more sustainable pace.”

He cited foreign market uncertainties such as the US-China trade war, Brexit, the Hong Kong protests, and even the Japan-Korea trade war as possibly affecting capital inflow into Singapore’s local property market.

Such moves could cause price surges in the property market.

However, he assured that “At this point, the share of transactions by foreigners remains stable and low, accounting for five to six per cent of total transactions over the past three quarters.”/TISG

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