Private home prices down for 11th straight quarter

Aerial view of high-rise apartments in Singapore. Prices of private residential properties fell 0.4 percent in Q2 2016, compared to the 0.7 percent decline recorded during the previous quarter, according to latest flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
This represents the 11th consecutive quarter of price falls, the longest losing streak on record.
The Core Central Region (CCR) and Rest of Central Region (RCR) saw non-landed private home prices increase by 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, while the Outside Central Region (OCR) registered a 0.7 percent drop in prices. Prices of landed properties fell 1.3 percent, compared to the 1.1 percent decrease in the previous quarter.
“The latest price indicators are mixed across the various regions, but there are signs that the market is approaching a trough,” said Desmond Sim, Head of CBRE Research, Singapore and South East Asia.
In fact, the 0.2 percent price increase in the CCR could be an indication of “flight to value”.
“The CCR has been tracking two quarters of increases in the price index, buoyed by the new project Cairnhill Nine in Q1 2016, as well as sales of completed projects in the higher price bands, despite the fact that the CCR covers a wide geography,” noted Sim.
He expects the increase to continue and “eventually prop up the overall price index for the next quarter to hover at the region of zero percent”.
Meanwhile, the success of new projects such as Sturdee Residences and Gem Residences, as well as completed projects on the resale market, have helped to boost price levels in the RCR, added Sim.
The URA’s flash estimates were compiled based on transaction prices given in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment and data on new units sold by developers up till mid-June.
The URA will release the full statistics four weeks later.

Private Residential Property Price Index Q2 2016

Source: URA

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

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