Daily Briefing: PM Lee says nearly every household owns ‘substantial' home asset; Lazada to offer loans for its Singapore partners

And a Sentosa Cove bungalow is sold for $33.3m.

From Yahoo! News Singapore:

Singapore’s housing policy made Singaporeans access a share in the country’s economic growth, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Speaking at the launch of the book “Critical Issues in Asset Building in Singapore’s Development”, Lee said pursuing home ownership has long been a key national policy for the government.

“It enables every Singaporean to share in our economic growth, because as the economy grows, so will the value of your home,” Lee said, according to the report.

“And nearly every household has a substantial asset to its name, even low-income households.”

Read more here.

From E27:

Lazada teamed up with fintech startup Finaxar to provide online financing for its partner sellers in Singapore.

An automated credit financing solution, this enables merchants to access working capital finance flexibly, according to a press statement. This credit line, integrated with Lazada’s marketplace platform, allows sellers to directly access working capital using a fully automated online application process, with credit approval in a short time.

Developed by Finaxar, the solution utilises a variety of data sources to algorithmically arrive at decisions to fund an online merchant.

“In our experience, SMEs find it difficult to secure credit from traditional lenders such as banks, especially SMEs that do business online. They can’t find suitable credit products that work best for them,” said Finaxar Co-founder Vihang Patel.

Read more here.

From Property Guru:

An 18,555 sq ft single-storey bungalow in Sentosa cave was sold for $33.3m which is the highest price achieved for a bungalow in the area since 2013, List Sotheby’s International Realty (List SIR) revealed.

Located along Cove Grove in the South Cove, the property also enjoys views of the southern seas and of the waterway where Pearl Island is situated. Moreover, the single-storey bungalow can be redeveloped into a two-and-a-half-storey bungalow.

List SIR Singapore relationship manager Rowena Chan, who represented the buyer, noted that although there may be some people who are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to purchasing a property, there are still some serious buyers who are on the lookout for homes for own stay and as long-term investments.

Read more here.