Singapore May home sales climb to nine-month high

The economy grew 1.7 percent in the January-March quarter from the previous three months on an annualised and seasonally adjusted basis thanks to a slight upward revision in the services sector, revised final figures from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) showed on Thursday.

SINGAPORE: Singapore home sales jumped to the highest in nine months in May, underscoring signs the city-state’s property market is recovering.

Developers sold 1,121 units last month, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said Monday. That’s more than the revised 732 units in April and the highest since August. Still, sales are running at a slower pace than early last year.

The city-state’s housing market is showing signs of recovering from a four-year slump even as officials watch cautiously after previous bouts of overheating. Property prices climbed 3.9 percent in the first quarter, the biggest gain in almost eight years.

“There is a healthy momentum in demand on the back of good supply,” said Desmond Sim, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE Group Inc. “However, prices starting to inch up and more supply coming to the market will put a dampener on demand going forward. - Bloomberg