From data to demand: will lower private home prices bring buyers back?

This week in Property

• Private home prices fell in Q3, while HDB resale prices escalated
• Could building bigger homes encourage people to have bigger families?
• Deals brewing in the commercial market  
• A New World succession drama unfolds

A two-speed market?

In a quarter marked by low sales volume and only three major new launches, private home prices fell 1.1 per cent, flash data showed. The decline in the residential price index is the first fall in five quarters and the biggest drop since 2016, when prices fell 1.5 per cent in Q3. Prices fell the most in the landed segments (down 3.8 per cent, reversing from their 1.9 per cent rise in Q2) and in the prime Core Central Region (down 1.5 per cent after easing 0.3 per cent in Q2). Will this bring buyers back, and could prices slip further?

In the public housing market, we saw a different story. HDB resale prices sped up in the third quarter, climbing 2.5 per cent on higher volume after rising 2.3 per cent in Q2. The fourth quarter will be one to watch to see if the latest HDB loan restrictions will dampen the market.