Source : Sunday Times - 29 Mar 2009
The United States’ housing market, which kicked off the financial crisis, appeared to turn a corner finally last month.
Home sales rose unexpectedly after hitting record lows in January and more building permits were also issued, an indicator of an uptick in future construction.
Sales of new homes rose 4.7 per cent last month over January, the first rise in seven months, while sales of occupied homes went up 5.1 per cent, the largest monthly jump since July 2003.
But the news was not entirely cheering. Sales were still down from a year ago, while prices dropped almost 16 per cent from the previous year, the second-largest drop on record.
In Singapore, new home sales also surged last month to hit an astounding 1,323 units, 10 times more than in January and equal to a quarter of all new home sales last year. But property consultants warned that the spike might be a blip due to the launches of a few popular projects.
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