The Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI), compiled by the NUS Institute of Real Estate Studies, show that prices of non-landed private homes remained flat in August as compared to July. The latest flash estimates from National University of Singapore (NUS) covers only completed properties.
The overall price index for non-landed homes for August rose 0.8% month on month, compared with a month-on-month drop of 0.1% for July. The June index was up 0.6% over May. In May, the index increased 2.4%.
Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng said the numbers show that the resale market had stabilised since June, even before the new cooling measures.
‘Much of the sales in the primary market (developer sales) in the past few months have been driven by shoebox units. So the volume of developer sales was pretty strong in July and August but if you look at the absolute dollar quantum of units sold, it’s not increasing,’ he explained.
NUS’ sub-index for Central region, which covers a basket of properties in districts 1-4 and 9-11, was unchanged in August, following a 0.8% month-on-month drop in July. The sub-index for Non-Central region rose 1.5% in August from the preceding month, after a 0.5% appreciation in July.
Since the start of the year, all three indices have appreciated, to the tune of 10% for the overall index, 7.6% for the Central region and 11.8% for the Non-Central region.
The August flash estimate for Central region is still 4% below the pre-crisis high in November 2007. But, for the Non-Central region, it has surpassed its respective pre-crisis peak in January 2008 by 13.9%. Thus, the overall SRPI flash estimate for August is 6.9% above its Nov 2007 high.
The SPRI is compiled based on a basket of properties for the base period Dec 2009 comprising 74,359 units in 364 projects within the 26 postal districts completed between Oct 1998 and Sept 2009. The basket is to be reviewed every two years.