(Corrects to add missing word in paragraph 3)
Singapore's latest measures to cool its property market bycapping the tenure of new home loans at 35 years, may result inlower transaction volumes for a few months before picking upagain, Nomura said.
At 0117 GMT, shares in CapitaLand Ltd , SoutheastAsia's largest property developer, were down 2.7 percent atS$3.21, while smaller rival City Developments Ltd fell1.3 percent to S$11.79.
Over the last three years, the average tenure for newresidential property loans has increased from 25 to 29 years andmore than 45 percent of new residential property loans grantedby financial institutions have tenures exceeding 30 years, saidthe Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Nomura also noted that unless home buyers have amplecapital, mortgage repayment could now be 24-45 percent higher.The brokerage's top pick among Singapore residential developersis Keppel Land Ltd , as it trades at a discount of 41percent to its net asset value.
"In reality, however, we suspect the market will still findits way around the new rules," said Nomura, adding that negativeimpact on stock prices of developers is likely to be limited.
CIMB Research said the Singapore government's move waspre-emptive in nature and unlikely to hurt demand much, givenlow mortgage rates and demand for smaller units.
"While the impact on demand may be mild, the government'spledge to keep prices down signals further policy headwinds fordevelopers," said CIMB, which kept its 'neutral' rating on thesector. Its top picks include CapitaLand and CapitaCommercialTrust , for which it has 'outperform' ratings.
0919 (0119 GMT) (Reporting by Charmian Kok in Singapore;charmian.kok@thomsonreuters.com; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)
Keywords: MARKETS SINGAPORE STOCKSNEWS/PROPERTY