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SINGAPORE : Recent measures to cool the property market are timely, said Edmund Cheng, deputy chairman of property developer Wing Tai Holdings.
He said property prices had gone up to an unsustainable level.
The comment came during a preview of Wing Tai's high-end project, Belle Vue Residences.
The final batch of 67 units at Belle Vue Residences has been released for sale.
Located at Oxley Walk, the development has a total of 176 units.
Wing Tai remains positive about sales - despite recent measures to cool the property market.
"The measures I think address more for the upgraders market. Most of our properties are all high-end, upper-middle, and super high-end, so the impact is not much," said Cheng.
Wing Tai believes the measures will not affect genuine home buyers in the long term, and it expects home prices to hold up.
"I don't think it (property price) will drop. With our low interest environment, the people (have) no difficulty in financing it," said Cheng.
In addition, he said prices for future land tenders need to be adjusted downwards.
"Initially people still think it is okay to tender at previous highs, but I think after a few more rounds, the price will need to be adjusted downwards in future tenders," said Cheng.
Wing Tai said 6 in 10 of the units of Belle Vue Residences have been sold, and it's confident that the project will be fully taken up. Among the buyers, the developer said half are foreigners.
The remaining units at Belle Vue Residences cost between S$2,300 and S$2,800 per square foot.
Property analysts said it is a good time to launch such high-end projects, as the Formula One race season will bring more high-net worth individuals to Singapore.
But while developers may stay positive, some observers expect the banking sector to feel the impact from the recent anti-speculative measures.
According to some, the banks could see a 3-5 per cent drop in contributions from housing loans.
And this could weigh on their earnings going forward.
"UOB has the largest percentage based on its total income. For (UOB), we are looking at 20-30 per cent of its total top line coming from housing loans. Therefore, (UOB) would be in our view, most affected by the clamp-down in the property sector, followed by DBS," said Moh Tze Yang, lead analyst ay SIAS Research.
Analysts expect the banks to further grow their business overseas to cut their reliance on the property market in Singapore. - CNA /ls
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