According to the Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday, it is still too early to roll back property cooling measures. It said that despite home sales have decreased, prices have remained relatively stable.

The moves to rein in property prices included extra stamp duties to curb speculative buying and the total debt servicing ratio framework which was introduced a year ago.

MND noted that private home prices had surged 60 per cent during the most recent market upswing that began in mid-2009.

The MND’s comments came as prominent developer Kwek Leng Beng warned of a potential impact on Singapore’s reputation as a global city, and called for a review of the policy measures.

The National University of Singapore’s Residential Price Index out yesterday showed that prices of resale homes climbed 0.8 per cent in May from April, after falling for nine months. The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s flash estimates for private home prices will be out today.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/too-early-relax-property-cooling-measures-says-mnd