Singapore’s construction segment continued to weaken for the fourth straight quarter in Q4 2017, declining by 8.5 percent on a quarterly basis due to sluggish building activities in the private sector, reported TODAYonline, citing statistics from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Although the recovery in the private property market is anticipated to continue this year, its positive effect on the construction sector is expected to be felt later. This is because the redevelopment of en bloc sites are expected to commence in 2H 2018 at the earliest and this depends on buyer demand.
“If take-up (at property launches) is excellent, developers will rush construction. If sales are not as good as expected, developers will pace the construction more gradually,” explained Suntec Real Estate Consultants Research Director Colin Tan.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 3.1 percent in Q4 2017. While it was lower than the 5.4 percent hike in the prior quarter, it was sufficient to push the full-year economic growth to 3.5 percent.
The last mentioned figure is not only higher than the government’s initial forecast by over two-fold, it is within the upper range of their projection of between three percent and 3.5 percent.
The economic growth was driven by the manufacturing sector, which posted the highest year-on-year gain of 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter.
This article was edited by Keshia Faculin.
