Why this could be a good time to buy Singapore property stocks

Home prices are set to make a comeback after a three-year losing streak.

According to a report from Bloomberg, amidst a restructuring push to boost a slowing economy, the government could signal its intention to reconsider property cooling measures as early as the budget speech in February, Carmen Lee, head of research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. said in an interview. That promises to boost the city-state’s largest developer stocks, including City Developments Ltd., which is one of the top picks for OCBC’s Lee and analysts at CIMB Research Pte, Credit Suisse Group AG. Other potential winners include CapitaLand Ltd., UOL Group Ltd. and OUE Ltd.

“Between buying physical property and buying stocks, stocks offer you the liquidity and they are pricing in all the negatives,” Lee said. “They may not outperform in the next one to two quarters but if you ride this out for 18 months or so, you will see better upside.”

Home prices in Singapore have been driven by the city-state’s policies in recent years as the government vowed to rein in soaring values in one of Asia’s most expensive housing markets. Fourth-quarter private home prices fell 0.5 percent versus the last quarter, when housing values dropped by the most in seven years, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday.

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