亚洲各国纷纷给楼市降温

英国《金融时报》 凯文•布朗 新加坡报道

由于担心低利率和经济快速增长正在亚洲许多地方引起泡沫，新加坡昨天采取行动，一年内第三次为其房地产市场降温。

在这个岛国发布公告前，香港、澳大利亚和中国也采取了类似行动。

然而，韩国在周末表示，将提振其房地产市场，以支持困境中的建筑业。当地政府放松了低收入家庭的按揭贷款规定，并提供减免税优惠。

在截至6月30日的一年中，新加坡私人住房平均价格上涨38%，超过在1996年6月时达到的此前最高点。新加坡担心“炒楼客”推高了房价，因此推出最新举措。

新加坡政府表示，将对三年内的房屋转售征税3%，而先前这个期限为一年。同时，它将二套房最低首付要求从购房价格的20%提高到了30%。

分析师表示，政府似乎最为担心的是人们是否负担得起由政府兴建的公寓——约五分之四的新加坡人住在这样的公寓中。在截至6月的三个月中，追踪这些房地产销售情况的新加坡建筑发展局(Housing Development Board)“转售价格指数”上涨了4.1%。

咨询公司仲量联行(Jones Lang LaSalle)东南亚研究负责人蔡炎亮(Chua Yang Liang)预计，公屋转售的季度价格增长率将放缓至1%-2%，私人住房将放缓至2%-3%。

新加坡总理李显龙(Lien Hsien Loong)表示，新加坡的目标是“确保长期来看，新加坡人能拥有自己的住房，供得起（这些住房），而且房子将成为一种逐渐升值的资产。”

执政的人民行动党预期将在6个月内要求提前选举，在新加坡从全球金融危机中复苏后“趁热打铁”。

在香港，房地产价格自2009年1月以来已经上涨了约45%。本月早些时候当地政府提高了高档房地产最低首付款比例，并释出额外土地用于开发。

澳大利亚在4月份恢复了对外国人投资于对居住性房地产的限制。之前数月里，许多澳大利亚人抱怨是外国人推高了房价。

中国给房地产市场降温的措施或许是最强硬的，不过在地方层面，这些措施的执行有一定的灵活空间。

总的看法是，在有明确迹象显示价格出现下跌前，中国政府将保持其政策措施不变，部分是因为，太快逆转立场可能会导致政府失去信用。

一些开发商预计，如果价格不下跌，那中国政府将推出如物业税这样的措施来给市场降温。中国央行顾问夏斌周末表示，短期内中国楼市政策不会放松。

英国《金融时报》宋京雅(Song Jung-a)首尔、杰夫•代尔(Geoff Dyer)北京、彼得•史密斯(Peter Smith)悉尼补充报道

Key Asian markets strike early to ward off property bubble

Wed, Sep 01, 2010 AFP

SINGAPORE - Key Asian economies fearing a US-style housing market bubble are taking fresh measures to curb runaway property prices as the region leads the global rebound from recession. High domestic liquidity, cash-rich foreign investors and low interest rates have stoked demand, with prices for some sectors in Hong Kong and Singapore surpassing peaks seen in previous property booms. China is also trying to rein in buyer exuberance by tightening credit and imposing other regulations that make it tougher to buy and sell property. "On the whole, this is good news because this is a potential problem area and regulators are acting early on it," said Deborah Schuler, senior vice president and group credit officer for financial institutions with Moody's Investors Service, told AFP. "These are people who believe you should not wait for bubbles." The International Monetary Fund said in a report in June that booming Asian real estate markets "may pose risks to financial stability as banks are increasingly vulnerable to a price correction". "In addition, because the majority of mortgage loans in Asian economies carry floating rates, the widely anticipated rate hikes in the region may increase the burden on household balance sheets," it added. Singapore on Monday introduced new regulations to curb "flipping" - buying condominium units on easy credit and reselling them for a quick profit even before the property is built or opened for occupancy. A typical three-bedroom suburban apartment of around 100 square metres (1,100 square feet) that will be ready for occupancy in only two or three years now costs at least a million US dollars in Singapore. In Hong Kong, a similar property can cost twice as much. "We think that if we do nothing, there's going to be a bubble," Singapore's Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said. "And when the bubble bursts, not if but when it bursts, there will be severe implications for individuals as well as for the economy as a whole," he said. Singapore's latest measures are aimed largely at buyers who have at least one outstanding mortgage. The minimum cash downpayment was raised from five to 10 percent of valuation, while the maximum amount a bank can lend was capped at 70 percent, down from 80 percent. The balance can be taken from a buyer's pension fund. "This round of tightening appears to be the most draconian," said CIMB bank analyst Donald Chua. In Hong Kong, the territory's richest man Li Ka-shing snapped up in August two prime residential sites at prices well above market estimates. On Tuesday, another developer paid 165 million US dollars for a plot of prime land in the teeming Kowloon district. Hong Kong announced in August it would further increase land supply and tighten mortgage lending on top of previous measures announced last year. Home prices in the Chinese territory have surged nearly 45 percent from their trough at the end of 2008. Mainland China's property prices rose at a slower pace in July, suggesting policy measures to cool the sector may be having an impact. Beijing has tightened restrictions on advance sales of new developments, introduced curbs on loans for third home purchases and raised minimum downpayments for second homes. The measures will help prevent "drastic fluctuations" in the market, Agricultural Bank of China chairman Xiang Junbo said Monday. Asian economies have outperformed their Western counterparts in recovering from the global slump that started in late 2008. "In Asia in general, there are strong capital inflows because of the strong recovery in Asia and the disparate performances between the Western and Asian economies," said Ho Woei Chen, an analyst with Singapore's United Overseas Bank. Colin Tan, head of research and consultancy at Chesterton Suntec International in Singapore, said more cooling measures may be necessary. "The liquidity problem is a global one. In Singapore, we are only starting to tackle this problem," he wrote in local newspaper Today. "Believe me, this is just the beginning."