Singapore private home prices continue to slide; non-landed prices stay flat in Q1(Amended)

PRICES of Singapore's private residential properties slipped for the 14th straight quarter in the first quarter of this year with a 0.4 per cent dip, compared to a 0.5 per cent fall in the preceding quarter, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday.

But non-landed home prices stayed flat in the first quarter, unchanged from the fourth quarter of last year, following a 0.8 per cent drop in the previous quarter.

The key drag on private residential prices came from the landed segment, where properties marked a 1.8 per cent drop in prices compared to a 0.8 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

In the non-landed segment, the city-fringes and suburban areas saw a recovery in prices in the first quarter, edging up 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, after dipping 2 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively. Prices in the prime region dipped again by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter following a 0.1 per cent increase in Q4 2016.

Rentals of private residential properties fell 0.9 per cent, compared with the one per cent decline in the previous quarter, with the main drag also from the landed segment.

During the quarter, developers sold 2,962 uncompleted private residential units (excluding executive condominiums) compared to 2,316 units sold in the previous quarter. They sold another 1,072 EC units in the first quarter, more than the 734 units sold in the previous quarter.

There were 2,170 resale transactions in the first quarter, compared with the 1,944 units transacted in the previous quarter.

A total of 18,870 units (including ECs) in the supply pipeline remained unsold.

Vacancy rate of completed private homes (excluding ECs) decreased to 8.1 per cent at the end of Q1, down from 8.4 per cent at the end of Q4 2016, as the increase in the stock of occupied units was higher than that for the stock of completed units.

Amendment note: The story has been amended to reflect the correct price change in Q4 2016 for landed residential properties.