Property prices on a downward spiral: Bloomberg

The cycle isn’t over yet.

Singapore finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam says property prices will fall further based on data that home values in the city-state dropped for the 3rd consecutive quarter.

A report from Bloomberg says that Shanmugaratnam thinks further correction would not be unexpected.

It has been 5 years since the Singapore government started taking steps to curb speculation in the property market.

Here’s more from Bloomberg:

An index tracking private residential prices in Singapore fell 1.1 percent to 209.3 points in the three months ended June 30, following a 1.3 percent decline in the previous three-month period, according to preliminary data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on July 1.

Among measures introduced to cool the property market, lenders must consider a borrower’s debt when granting mortgages, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in June, 2013. Home loans should not lead to a borrower’s total debt-servicing ratio rising above 60 percent of his or her income, it said.