Singapore's new private home sales surge in August

Sales of new private homes in Singapore surged by 54.3 percent after the sharp decline seen in July, the city-state's Urban Redevelopment Authority said on Monday. In August, there are totally 742 units of new private homes sold, rising sharply compared with the figure of 481 units in July. However, the August sales figure was still just over half the 1, 427 residences sold over the same period last year. If executive condominiums (ECs), a public-private housing hybrid, are included, there were 1,468 units of homes sold in August, up from 593 units in the previous month. The surge was following the sharp decline in July amid the loan curb which caps the total debt servicing ratio of property loans to 60 percent of income. On the supply side, developers launched a total of 927 new units in August, much higher than the 557 units in July.