The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) flash estimates for the private residential property price index for the third quarter this year stands at 142.3, down from 144.2 during the previous quarter.
This represents a drop of 1.3 percent compared to the 0.9 percent decline seen in Q2, the URA said.
The price index has fallen 8.0 percent from the previous peak of Q3 2013, noted Desmond Sim, Head, CBRE Research, Singapore & South East Asia. “This is not surprising as the market has grappled with a reduction in sales volume since the introduction of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio.”
Prices of non-landed private residential properties dived across all market segments. In the Core Central Region (CCR), prices fell 1.3 percent, higher than the 0.6 percent decline in the quarter before.
The Rest of Central Region (RCR) saw prices drop 1.5 percent, more than the 0.6 percent dip in the second quarter. Prices in the Outside Central Region (OCR) fell 1.6 percent, compared to the previous 1.1 percent slide.
“The OCR saw the largest correction this quarter largely because of the contribution in sales from High Park Residences, which were launched at a palatable unit price and quantum,” Sim said.
As long as the property cooling measures are in place, CBRE Research expects price corrections to continue at a moderate pace, on the back of the current economic outlook and rising interest rates.
“Generally, the rate of descent has been gentle compared to the previous two corrections which were impacted by global events. Should the price decline persist, it is likely that price levels will edge closer to the previous peak of 2008 pre-Global Financial Crisis,” added Sim.
URA’s flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices provided in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment and survey data on new units sold by developers during the first ten weeks of the quarter.
The agency will release the full statistics for the third quarter in four weeks’ time, capturing more data from stamp duty records and the take-up of new projects.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
