Private residential prices slip 0.4% in Q4, 3% for full year: URA flash estimates

PRIVATE residential prices slipped 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter from a quarter ago, after a steeper 1.5 per cent decline in the third quarter.

For the whole year, prices have fallen 3 per cent, a smaller magnitude compared to the 3.7 per cent drop in 2015, flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Tuesday show.

Non-landed properties marked a 0.7 per cent price decline in the fourth quarter, following a 1.2 per cent price fall in the third quarter.

The main drag in the quarter came from the city-fringe or Rest of Central Region (RCR), where non-landed homes slipped by a steeper 2 per cent after a one-per cent drop in the third quarter.

Downward price pressures in non-landed homes in the prime or Core Central Region (CCR) and the suburban or Outside Central Region (OCR) showed signs of easing in the fourth quarter, with prices in CCR being flat after a 1.9 per cent fall in the third quarter, and prices in the OCR dipping 0.3 per cent after a one-per cent fall in the third quarter.

For the whole of 2016, prices in CCR, RCR and OCR have fallen by 1.3 per cent, 2.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.

Bucking the trend in the fourth quarter were landed homes, which marked an uptick of 0.9 per cent, compared to the 2.7 per cent decline in the previous quarter. For the whole of 2016, prices of landed properties fell by 4.4 per cent.

These flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment, and data on units sold by developers (both licensed and de-licensed) up till Dec 15.

The data will be updated when URA releases the full real estate statistics for the fourth quarter on Jan 26.