Private home prices increased 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2013, down from the 1.8 percent growth seen previously, according to data released today by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Growth in non-landed home prices eased across all three market segments with the Rest of Central Region (RCR) posting the biggest decline as the rate of increase was only 0.2 percent compared to 0.9 percent in Q4 2012.
Prices in the Core Central Region (CCR) were up 0.6 percent from 0.7 percent in the previous quarter, while the Outside Central Region (OCR) registered the largest hike of 1.4 percent compared to the previous 3.8 percent.
Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), developers released 5,546 uncompleted private properties for sale last quarter compared to just 3,408 units in Q4 last year. Of this, they sold 5,412 units during the first quarter compared to the previous 3,408.
Joseph Tan, Executive Director at CBRE, attributed the robust sales to strong supply of new homes, and slower price growth to the seventh round of cooling measures.
Moreover, sales of second-hand properties declined to 1,871 units in Q1 2013 from 3,447 previously. Resale homes only accounted for 24.5 percent of overall deals, down from 40.8 percent in Q4 2012, while sub-sales accounted for 4.5 percent.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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