Private property prices grew more slowly at 6.8% in the last quarter of 2007, compared to the previous three months, according to the latest data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Analysts attributed this to the uncertainty in the financial markets and measures taken to curb speculation in the property sector. Still, for the whole year, private property prices were up by 31% - now just 6% shy of the all-time peak in 1996.
As for HDB resale prices, they climbed 17.5% last year.
The supply of new private residential properties in the fourth quarter was down by 45% compared to the preceding three months.
The number of units sold dipped to just 1,397 - the lowest 4th quarter sales since 2003.
Property consultants said worries that the financial market upheaval might spill over to the real economy made buyers more cautious.
"There are still genuine buyers out there and they have the deep pockets... and they maintaining the prices. What is removed is the volume. The speculative demand has been narrowed because of the removal of deferred payment," said Dr Chua Yang Liang, head of Research & Consultancy, Jones Lang LaSalle.
The pace of rent hikes also slowed to 6.8% in the last quarter, with rentals in the fringe of prime districts and the suburban areas growing faster than those in the central area.
Overall, housing rents were up by 41.2% for the full year.
Said Nicholas Mak, director of Consultancy & Research at Knight Frank: "The prime districts actually had the slowest rate of rental increase in the fourth quarter, partly because rentals has already gone up quite high and the base is relatively higher than the rest of the island.
"Going forward, we're going to see the rest of the market catching up,... for example in the suburban areas. This is partly supported by the rising rentals in the HDB rental market as well."
As for office rentals, they soared 56.1% in 2007, going up by 8% in both the 3rd and 4th quarters.
"There is still some healthy demand for office space, as long as the economy is growing at a healthy rate, but there are also some tenants who are showing some resistance to further rates increase," said Mak.
"There are also some office space users who might want to revise what they need, in light of what might be happening in their head office, that is if those head offices are affected by the sub-prime crisis," he added.
The price of industrial properties climbed 22.7% while shops cost 13.2% more on average. - CNA /ls
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