Property prices down in Q1

Posted by goldenpeace on 01-Apr-2009

Prices for private property and public housing fell steeply in the first three months of the year.

In the Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale market, the first drop since 2006 was seen.

HDB’s flash estimate, based on its Resale Price Index, showed a decline of 0.6 per cent in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year, which had registered a 1.4 per cent increase.

As for private residential property, flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed prices were down 13.8 per cent in the three months to March.

That was more than twice as steep as the six per cent decline in the fourth quarter of last year.

Based on geographical regions, prices in the “rest of central region” fell the steepest, at more than 17 per cent compared to 6.2 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Prices of non-landed private residential properties decreased by 15.2 per cent in the “core central region”, much higher than the 6.5 per cent fall seen in late 2008.

Prices “outside the central region” fell 7.5 per cent, compared to the 5.9 per cent drop seen in the previous quarter.

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged during the first ten weeks of the quarter, supplemented by information on the number of new units sold.

Source : CNA - 1 Apr 2009