Sales of Singapore residential properties to foreign buyers tumbled 78% in the first quarter after a government decision in late 2011 to apply a higher stamp duty to prevent the market from overheating, a newspaper reported on Friday.
There were only 293 transactions in the first three months of 2012 compared with 1,358 in the previous quarter, according to a Straits Times report that cited analysts at property broker Dennis Wee Group.
The figure does not include sales to permanent residents, or Singaporean citizens.
Transactions by permanent residents slipped 7.5% while purchases by Singaporeans fell 12%.
New private home sales in Singapore eased in March from February but remained high compared with historical data, indicating continued strong demand for apartments in the city-state despite market-cooling measures.
Singapore home prices fell 0.1% in January-March from the preceding quarter - the first drop in nearly three years - following government measures to discourage speculative demand.
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