December 5, 2008

Singapore: Govt to reduce land sales to help property market
Singapore said on Thursday it will cut back on government land sales next year to support the property market as the city-state battles recession.

For the first half of 2009, there will be no additions to the list of sites that could potentially be sold under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said in a statement, reported Reuters.

Other government agencies will not offer land for residential development and reduce the amount of available land for commercial use, URA added.

Singapore currently has 38 sites on the reserve list of land available for sale under the GLS programme, but sites will only be put up for auction if a developer offers an acceptable price.

Singapore private home prices fell 2.4 percent in July-September from the previous quarter according to URA data, the first decline in four years. The drop in home prices coincided with the economy's descent into recession as demand slowed from Asia's export customers in the West and the global financial crisis hammered financial markets.