Private home prices down 5.7% in Q4, HDB resale flat prices still up
January 3, 2009
SINGAPORE: Prices of private, non-landed residential properties in Singapore fell 5.7 per cent in the last quarter of 2008.
The quarter-on-quarter drop in private home prices is more than double the 2.4 per cent decrease in the July-September quarter.
Experts said the steep fall is fuelled by deteriorating sentiment. Market players are also matching prices to falling valuations.
Nicholas Mak, consultancy and research, Knight Frank, said: “The individual sellers are being more realistic in their offer price, though there are some segments of sellers who are still resisting, or still hoping to sell at break-even (prices) or at a profit.”
In contrast to the decline in private home prices, new HDB data on Friday showed HDB resale flats continued to buck the trend, climbing 1.5 per cent in the fourth quarter - following a 4.2 per cent increase in the third quarter.
Experts said this resistance to downward pressure in the HDB resale market is expected to continue despite the economic downturn.
Eugene Lim, associate director, ERA Asia Pacific, said: “Buyers are coming from people who are upgrading (and) people who are downgrading… also, from the increase in the population of PRs (permanent residents). So the (demand for) HDB resale flats is very strong.”
Observers said they expect flat or slow declines for public housing prices compared to steeper devaluations in the private home sector. They added this is the trend during times of uncertainty when home buyers opt for the safer option of HDB flats.
Knight Frank estimated that by the end of 2009, private home prices could come down as much as 20 per cent, while HDB flat prices could decline by 5 to 10 per cent.
In a statement released on Friday, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) also reported price changes in three geographical regions for the fourth quarter.
Non-landed private residential property came down by 6.3 per cent in the Core Central Region, while it dipped 5.5 per cent in the rest of the Central area. In areas outside the Central Region, prices slid by about 4.7 per cent.
Source: Channelnewsasia.com
Singapore’s Q3 private home prices down 2.4% on-quarter
October 25, 2008
SINGAPORE: Private home prices in Singapore came in weaker than expected for the third quarter, dropping by 2.4 per cent - worse than an earlier estimate of 1.8 per cent. The quarter-on-quarter drop was the first decline in more than four years.
Data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed prices fell across the board, with prices for high-end homes in prime areas seeing the biggest drop of 2.7 per cent.
Analysts said there has not been panic selling yet, but they expect prices to drop by about 3 to 5 per cent in the quarters to come.
Donald Han, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, said: “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next 2 to 3 months. There will be people who’ve been affected by the stock market (declines), who might be late in their payment, and that might eventually translate to more pressurised selling.”
The mass-market and mid-tier segments, which have shown some resilience in previous quarters, have also not been spared.
Prices for mass-market homes fell by 1.5 per cent, while those for the mid-tier segment declined by 2.4 per cent.
URA said there are over 66,000 units of private homes in the pipeline - of these more than 37,000 units will be completed by 2011.
Some property consultants said developers may choose to launch their projects before the market gets worse.
Tan Huey Ying, Colliers International’s director for research & advisory, said: “Now that the market is firmly on a downward path, I think there are some developers who may take this opportunity to launch their projects instead of waiting for prices to drop even further.
“On the other hand, there might be some developers with strong financial standing who may want to continue to develop their properties, but launch at a later date when the market recovers.”
Sub-sales accounted for about 11.6 per cent of all sales transactions in the third quarter.
Ms Tan expects this segment to hold steady for the next six to nine months. And it is likely to be dominated by purchasers for properties that are nearing completion or speculators who opt to take profit now.
Rentals of private residential properties also fell in the third quarter, dropping by about one per cent.
Meanwhile, Housing and Development Board (HDB) data showed prices of resale flats rose by 4.2 per cent in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter.
Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/385086/1/.html