MAS keeps close watch on property market after cooling measures

It will take at least two to three quarters to understand its full implications.

Bloomberg reported that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is keeping a ‘close eye’ on the property market after the cooling measures were rolled out in July to calm down the market, MAS managing director Ravi Menon said in an interview, saying that it’s too early to tell the implications of the property curbs.

"It will take at least two to three quarters for the full implications to be understood,” Menon explained.

With its home prices jumping the highest compared to other Southeast Asian counterparts, Singapore’s surging property market had been ‘out of sync’ amidst slowing economic growth and a rising interest rate environment, making it unsustainable, the director said.

“This was a wrong time to see a renewed property bubble. Not that there was a bubble, but we wanted to preempt that,” he commented.

Post-cooling measures, real investment sales crashed 42% to $6.5b in Q3, with most segments going down except for office and industrial property sales.

Here’s more from Bloomberg.