Recovery in private home sales seen spilling over to new year

Singapore

A MILD recovery in private residential transactions could spill over into 2017 - though this comes, ironically, against a backdrop of falling rents and rising vacancies.

This paradox arises mainly from pent-up demand from buyers who have delayed their purchasing decision since the cooling measures of 2013, property consultants said.

But the state of the economy and its impact on the labour market is a wild card. The uncertainty has clouded the reading on price directions for next year; analysts expect private home prices to slip further by as much as 3 per cent or to rise by as much as 2 per cent through 2017.

JLL national director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui projects a moderation in price decline next year, followed by stable or mildly-rising prices in the later part of the year. "We are seeing a higher volume of transactions because many buyers feel that the residential market is getting closer …