Daily Briefing: Singapore home sales post worst start since 2009; Retail sales miss estimates

And Singapore's first luxury EC is completed.

Singapore home sales posted their worst start to the year since 2009, as tighter mortgage curbs cooled demand in Asia’s second-most expensive housing market. Developers sold 322 units in January, down 16 percent from the 384 units in December, according to data released Monday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. While annual sales rose just under 2 percent to 7,440 units in 2015, it’s still half the clip recorded in 2013. Read more here.

Singapore’s retail sales missed estimates and rose at a slower pace in December, reflecting faltering growth prospects in the economy. Sales increased 2.9 percent from a year earlier in December, slowing from a revised 4.6 percent the previous month. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell 3.6 percent, deepening from the 2.1 percent decline in November. Find out more here.

Singapore's first luxury hotel-inspired executive condominium (EC), obtained its TOP on 3 February. Launched in November 2012, the EC project sold 90 percent of its 514 units within two days of its launch, and was subsequently sold out by March 2013. Read more here.