S'pore Home Prices Slow After Record Year

Source : The Straits Times, Apr 1, 2008

SINGAPORE private home prices rose at the slowest in more than a year in the first quarter of this year, reflecting a general slow down in the property market.

Prices of private homes gained 4.2 per cent in the first three months, after rising 6.8 per cent in the previous quarter, according to early quarterly estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday.

Prices of non-landed private homes in the core central region of Singapore such as Orchard Road and Sentosa Cove rose by 4.4 per cent, compared with a 7.5 per cent rise in the previous quarter.

Non-landed private home prices rose 3.9 per cent in the rest of central region and 4.8 per cent in areas outside the central region or suburban areas. In the previous quarter, these prices went up by 7.7 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

Private home prices jumped 31 per cent last year on the back of a booming economy - to an 11-year high. The market has since slowed considerably in the wake of the global credit crunch and the jittery stock market.

The URA on Tuesday advised prospective home-buyers that there is ample supply of private housing in the pipeline.

'As at the fourth quarter of 2007, there are about 64,900 private residential units in the pipeline, of which about 56,100 new private housing units are expected to be completed between 2008 and 2011,' said the URA.

About 38,300 units, or 59 per cent of the total, haven't been sold, the authority said.

Singapore's residential property market outpaced increases in China and Bulgaria, researcher Global Property Guide said in a Dec 19 report. Prices excluding inflation climbed 24 per cent, the researcher said.

The figures released by the authority are preliminary and based on transaction prices lodged during the first 10 weeks of the quarter. The statistics will be updated four weeks later, the authority said in today's statement.

The URA will release the full first quarter real estate statistics in four weeks' time.