Loans fell to $202.76 billion in April, from $203.38 billion in March.
Preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revealed that housing loans in Singapore fell for a third month in April, which resulted to a continued drop in consumer loans, reported The Business Times.
Bridging loans and mortgages booked in April on a net basis amounted to $202.76 billion, lower than the $203.38 billion posted in March.
With housing loans accounting for about three-quarters of consumer lending, overall consumer loans fell to $264.57 billion in April from $264.67 billion in March.
In a Bloomberg interview, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said the property cycle in Singapore has stabilised almost a year after the government intervened to curb soaring property prices.
“The property market last year, before the cooling measures were put in place, we saw prices rising very sharply…There was a very real risk that prices would outpace fundamentals, and I think if that had happened, then eventually it would lead to a destabilising correction, and I think everybody would be worse off,” said Wong.
“It was, as we had stressed then, not to bring down prices but to stabilise and moderate the cycle, and I think we have achieved that effect.”
Overall bank lending held flat in April from the previous month, on the back of moderated growth in business lending and decline in consumer loans.
Total lending in April climbed 1.4 percent from a year ago, slower than the 2.2 percent year-on-year growth registered in March.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru
Source : proppertyguru.com.sg/Property Market
Read more…MAS: Housing loans continue to fall in April
