Singapore's private home sales fall in October

The number of private homes sold in October went down by 14.9 percent from the previous month, according to statistics released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday. A total of 1,387 private units were sold in October, down from 1,631 units sold in September. Real estate prices went up significantly over the past two years in Singapore as the economy rebounded strongly, prompting the government to put in place several rounds of tightening measures to cool the market. The private home market in Singapore mainly belonged to the high-end market, as more than 80 percent of the population live in public housing units built and sold by the government to the public.