Singapore on Monday announced fresh anti-speculation measures to cool its private property market as the city-state's double-digit economic growth keeps upward pressure on demand.

Owners who sell houses and apartments less than three years after buying them will have to pay a duty of three percent of the resale value -- a measure previously applicable to transactions within one year of the purchase.

For buyers with at least one outstanding loan, the minimum cash down payment was raised from five to 10 percent of valuation, while the maximum amount a bank can lend was capped at 70 percent, down from 80 percent.

The balance of the purchase price can be taken from pension savings.

The measures, which take immediate effect, are designed to discourage "flipping" -- buying properties on easy credit with low cash down payments, and then reselling them quickly for profit.

They were announced as a traditional lull in the property market in August was about to come to an end.

"The government's objective is to ensure a stable and sustainable property market where prices move in line with economic fundamentals," said a joint statement from the central bank and ministries of finance and national development.

"The property market is currently very buoyant," it said, adding that the new measures were designed to "temper sentiment and encourage greater financial prudence among property purchasers."

Properties in land-scarce Singapore are now among the most expensive in Asia, boosted in large part by the building of two massive casino complexes that opened this year.

A typical three-bedroom suburban apartment of around 100 square metres (1,076 square feet) that will be ready for occupancy in only two or three years now costs at least a million US dollars.

Latest available government data showed property prices rose 5.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the April-June period, albeit slower than the 5.6 percent jump in the March quarter.

Even during the recession last year, private property prices rose 1.8 percent despite government measures to dampen the market.

Analysts expect the property market to stay strong in light of the economy's projected expansion of 13-15 percent for 2010, which would make Singapore the world's fastest growing major economy this year.

The credit environment, with lending rates on home loans below one percent in some cases, is another factor boosting buyer sentiment.

The government said the latest announcement was necessary to avert a potential property meltdown should the global economic recovery stall, which would have an impact on Singapore's trade-dependent economy.

If growth falters and the market corrects, "property buyers could face capital losses, with implications on their own finances and the economy as a whole," the government said.

"Moreover, the current low global interest rate environment will not continue indefinitely, and higher interest rates could have severe implications for buyers who have overextended themselves."

Analysts expect the latest measures to slow down the property price surge, giving "genuine" buyers a chance to purchase private property.

"Today's set of measures safeguard the interest of genuine home buyers, those who are owner-occupiers," said Tay Huey Ying, director for research and advisory with Colliers International real estate consultancy.

"I don't think prices will fall but I think these will help to keep price growth in check," she told AFP.

Chua Yang Liang, head of regional research with Jones Lang LaSalle, expects property prices to rise two to three percent on a quarterly basis with the introduction of the new measures.