SUBSCRIBERS

Prices of private homes seen to increase in 2021 as sentiment improves

Nisha Ramchandani

Published Mon, Jan 4, 2021 · 07:22 PM

PRIVATE home prices in Singapore could climb again this year as a recovering economy lifts sentiment after the private residential property index shrugged off the impact of a global pandemic to clock a 2.2 per cent gain in 2020.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) flash estimate on Monday, prices of private homes in Singapore rose 2.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2020 in the highest quarterly increase since the 3.4 per cent notched in Q2 2018 before the last round of cooling measures kicked in. This comes on the heels of a 0.8 per cent increase in Q3 2020.

In 2019, the private residential property index grew by 2.7 per cent.

The surprising turnaround in the private property market comes in a year where the local economy contracted by 5.8 per cent, based on the government's advance estimates. Maybank Kim Eng economist Chua Hak Bin pointed to supporting factors such as the collapse in mortgage rates - which has been a plus for the property market - while fiscal support, wage subsidies and hiring incentives from the governm…