Prices of small apartments measuring up to 506 sq ft dipped slightly by 1.2 percent in April, according to the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI).
This is in sharp contrast to March, when the SRPI sub-index for small apartments saw a notable 2.7 percent rise across all categories.
However, April’s overall SRPI inched up 0.8 percent from the previous month.
Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for National Development, recently stated that shoebox units were a concern. “We will continue to monitor these developments closely and will not hesitate to take action, if necessary.”
About 2,500 completed shoebox apartments were recorded as of Q1 2012, accounting for 1.2 percent of the 210,000 non-landed units in the private housing supply.
Meanwhile, the SRPI sub-index for the central region inched up 1.6 percent, excluding small units, while the sub-index for the non-central region (NCR), apart from small units, remained unchanged.
The marginal price growth for non-landed homes in the central region did not come as a surprise to Ong Kah Seng, Director at R’ST Research, who said that the segment was “considerably affected in the aftermath of the additional buyer’s stamp duty”.
Ong Teck Hui, Executive Director at Credo Real Estate, noted that the rise in higher value transactions led to a 1.6 percent uptick in the SRPI for the central region in April.
“An analysis of caveats for non-landed properties lodged in April for prime districts 9, 10 and 11 shows a median price of S$1,580 psf and 36 transactions of S$2,000 psf or higher. For March, the median price was S$1,500 psf and only 20 transactions of S$2,000 psf or higher was recorded,” he added.
Related Stories:
Chinese no longer the top foreign property buyers in Singapore
Is The Grass Really Greener Overseas?