The URA has released the flash estimates of the price index for private residential properties for Q3, with prices rising to 190.0 points from 184.2 in Q2, representing a 3.1 percent increase compared with 5.3 percent in the last quarter.
The URA index indicated that prices of non-landed private residential properties in the third quarter increased 1.6 percent in Core Central Region (CCR), 2.4 percent in Outside Central Region (OCR) and 2.4 percent in Rest of Central Region (RCR).
Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CBRE Research, said, “The continuing upward trend of the residential price index in Q3 2010 was probably due to the strong sales momentum in July and August, as the market slowed down from September after the government introduced the property measures. The index showed a quarter-on-quarter rise of 3.1 percent, translating to a 14.7 percent increase in the first nine months of 2010. At 190.0 points, the estimated Q3 2010 residential price index is 4.7 percent above the market peak of 181.4 points back in 2Q 1996.”
In comparison, prices of non-landed private residential properties in Q2 rose 5.4 percent in CCR, 5.7 percent in OCR and 4.6 percent in RCR. The URA said prices of non-landed private homes in the RCR and OCR showed a higher growth of 2.4 percent in the third quarter.
“This could be attributed to the price points set by successful new launches such as The Scala, The Greenwich, Viva Vista and NV Residences. The Core Central Region (CCR), which saw a smaller number of new projects launched, showed a slightly lower quarter-on-quarter price increase of 1.6 percent. In the nine months of 2010, the price index for the RCR showed the highest increase of 15.6 percent, followed by 12.9 percent in the OCR and 11.7 percent in CCR,” said Mr. Li.
“Going forward, the impact of the latest property measures will be felt more as the sales volume for the fourth quarter will be much lower than that in the first three quarters of 2010. New projects that are located near MRT stations are still expected to do well and prices will remain firm. For the whole of 2010, we expect home prices to rise by around 15 percent from 2009 levels,” he added.
The URA’s flash estimates were compiled based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged in the first ten weeks of the quarter, in addition to the number of new units sold.