Private home prices extend longest falling streak _Today 03.01.2017

SINGAPORE – Private home prices in the Republic softened further in the last three months of 2016 to hit the lowest level in six years, extending its longest losing streak on record to 13 consecutive quarters.

The private residential property index fell 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the October to December period last year, slowing from the 1.5 per cent fall seen in the previous three months, flash estimates by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed on Tues (Jan 3).

The latest data brings the annual decline of 2016 to 3 per cent, compared with a 3.7 per cent decline in 2015. Since the recent peak in the third quarter of 2013, private home prices here have dropped 11.2 per cent, the URA figures showed.

In the non-landed private residential properties segment, the city fringes - or Rest of Central Region (RCR) - saw the biggest price decline 2 per cent in the final quarter of 2016, compared to a decrease of 1 per cent in the previous quarter. Prices in the suburbs, or Outside Central Region (OCR), fell by 0.3 per cent, after a 1 per cent decline in the previous quarter. Prices in the city centre, or Core Central Region (CCR), remained unchanged compared to the 1.9 per cent decline in the previous quarter.

For the whole of last year, prices in CCR, RCR and OCR fell by 1.3 per cent, 2.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.

Prices of landed properties increased by 0.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to the 2.7 per cent decline in the previous quarter. For the whole of last year, prices of landed properties fell by 4.4 per cent.

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment, and data on units sold by developers up till mid-Dec 2016. URA will release the full statistics for the fourth quarter on Jan 26.