Q1 home price data could offer view into prospect of cooling moves

THE Q1 2021 flash estimate for the private home price index will be the one to watch as it reveals how much property prices have climbed in recent months.

The flash estimate will be released on Thursday, and the data updated later in April once the full set of statistics for Q1 is released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

A substantial - and sustained - uptick in private residential prices could strengthen the case for cooling measures after the index notched a 2.1 per cent gain quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2020. In Q3 2020, the increase was 0.8 per cent.