Yahoo Finance Singapore home prices grow the Least since 2020 as boom eases
By Sing Yee Ong
(Bloomberg) — Singapore home prices grew at the slowest pace in more than two years in the fourth quarter of 2022, a sign that the property boom is starting to moderate as supply dwindles and interest rates climb.
Private property values rose 0.4%, Urban Redevelopment Authority Figures showed Friday. That compares with the preliminary estimate of 0.2%, and marks the weakest growth since the second quarter of 2020. For the full year, prices climbed 8.6%.
The slowdown comes on the back of a tight supply of private homes, cooling measures announced in September, and rising borrowing costs that caused sales to drop to a 14-year low in December. Still, Singapore’s growing property market appears more resilient than the likes of Canada and Sweden, which have been harmed by more aggressive rate hikes.
The latest housing curbs led to a “knee-jerk effect on prices and volumes in the fourth quarter, and the market will need time to adjust,” said Wong Xian Yang, Cushman & Wakefield Plc’s Singapore head of research. The market took a similar breather at the start of 2022, after earlier tightening measures were introduced.
Private rents are also expected to rise at a slower pace this year as the supply of new homes picks up, easing a crunch for tenants. The first three quarters of 2022 saw rents surge almost 21%. Housing affordability and living costs are some of the top concerns for Singaporeans, according to a poll by YouGov Plc.
“Despite the influx of new supply in the form of development launches and units completing, more is needed to meet demand,” Nicholas Keong, head of private office at brokerage Knight Frank Singapore, said in a note. He forecasts price growth of 5% this year, “despite the current economic climate and potential challenges ahead underpinned by low supply, and strong underlying demand.”
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
