Thursday, July 2, 2009

Private Home Prices Dip 5.9%

Source : The Straits Times, July 1, 2009

SINGAPORE'S private home prices fell 5.9 per cent in the second quarter, which was an improvement from the record 14.1 per cent fall in the first quarter.

--PHOTO: EYEB

Initial estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday also showed the decline in non-landed home prices was the lowest in the suburban areas.

Prices in this segment fell just 2.6 per cent, compared with a 6.6 per cent slide in the core central areas and a 6.3 per cent fall in the city-fringes.

The residential property market has been witnessing a boom of late, with buyers flocking to showflats to buy uncompleted homes.

Although the economic climate here remains weak, sales of new private homes have been strong and the resale homes market has also improved.

'The strong buying phenomenon in the market is partly due to new competitive pricing for some projects, the recent stock market rally, signs of an economic turnaround and pent-up demand,' said Mr Eugene Lim, ERA Asia Pacific's associate director.

In the HDB resale market, prices even rose 1.2 per cent on strong demand, reversing a marginal 0.8 per cent fall in the first quarter.

URA's initial estimates are based on caveats lodged during the first 10 weeks of the quarter. Updated figures will be released four weeks later.

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