Almost 200,000 homes will be ready in the next four years: Khaw

Expect almost 200,000 homes to hit the market by 2016. National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan wrote this in a blog post on Friday to assuage buyers' concerns in the wake of property cooling measures announced last week.

He noted that the current imbalance in the market was due to insufficient building in the past and the high investment demand today.

"The alternative of doing nothing, allowing the prices to run beyond economic fundamentals, will only invite a large and serious price correction in the future. That will not do anyone any good," he wrote.

The slew of measures last week was aimed at protecting first time buyers, and making it harder for investors to take advantage of the current low interest rates and drive up prices. However, he also noted that many of the new rules were "counter-cyclical in nature" and will be lifted when "the market regains its balance"

The properties coming on stream in the next four years includes 80,000 private properties, 10,000 executive condominiums and 110,000 HDB flats. This is equivalent to four Ang Mo Kio towns.

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