Singapore's new private home sales hit record high in 2012

A record total of 22,684 new homes were sold in 2012 in Singapore, according to the statistics released on Tuesday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. This is higher than the previous record of 16,292 units sold in 2010. A total of 16,027 new units were sold in 2011. The latest statistics also confirmed a rebound in the demand for new private residential property in Singapore in December, which had prompted harsh cooling measures on Jan. 11. The statistics released on Tuesday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed that 1,410 units of new private homes were sold in December, up by about 30 percent from November's 1,087 units. With the executive condominiums included, the sale of new homes came in at 2,259 units in December. Market analysts are expecting the market to remain subdued for a period of time to come, following the comprehensive set of measures announced over the weekend, including higher extra buyers stamp duties and further restrictions in the down payment and loan- to-value requirements for certain groups of buyers. Despite that, officials said they expected the demand to remain strong given the low interest rate environment internationally.