Aerial view of private properties in the Kembangan area.
Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), prices of private homes in Singapore dipped by 0.5 percent in Q4 2016 following a 1.5 percent drop in the previous quarter. For the whole of 2016, prices fell by 3.1 percent versus the 3.7 percent decline in 2015, revealed more detailed statistics released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday (26 January).
Last quarter, the cost of non-landed houses slid by 0.8 percent, an improvement from the previous 1.2 percent decline. Conversely, prices of landed properties increased by 0.8 percent, reversing the 2.7 percent fall in Q3 2016. Consequently, prices in each segment declined by 2.6 percent and 4.5 percent respectively for the whole of 2016.
Rental prices of private homes also fell by just one percent in Q4 2016 versus the 1.2 drop in the previous quarter. For the whole of 2016, rents fell by four percent compared to the 4.6 percent drop in 2015.
Moreover, developers launched 2,944 uncompleted private units for sale during Q4, up from the 1,609 units recorded in Q3. Last year, a total of 7,877 units were released compared with 7,056 units in 2015.
Excluding ECs, 2,316 private homes were sold in Q4 2016 versus the 1,981 units taken up in the previous quarter. Last year, 7,972 units were sold, exceeding the 7,440 units seen in 2015.
In the EC segment, 93 units were launched, while 734 units found buyers last quarter, a far cry from the 862 units launched and 1,398 units moved in Q3. Nevertheless, developers sold 3,999 EC units for the whole of 2016, surpassing the previous year’s 2,550 units.
As for the secondary market, there were 1,944 resale transactions in Q4 2016, down from the 2,477 units transacted in the previous quarter. The sale of secondary homes accounted for 44.3 percent of all deals, a contraction from the 53.9 percent market share in Q3 2016. Overall, 7,901 resale units were sold last year, outstripping the 6,160 transactions in 2015.
Moving forward, 18,307 private homes (including ECs) are expected to be completed this year, while another 13,785 units are targeted to be ready by 2018.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
