Resale prices of completed non-landed private homes continued to fall last month, according to Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimates released on Monday, with declines registered across the board.
The SRPI, compiled by the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Institute of Real Estate Studies, showed overall prices decreased by 1.1 per cent last month from the month earlier, accelerating from a revised 0.9 per cent decline in February.
Prices of homes in the central region excluding small units led the decline, falling by 1.3 per cent last month, compared to the 0.2 per cent drop a month earlier, the SRPI data showed. Prices of homes in the non-central region fell 1 per cent, moderating from the 1.5 per cent decline previously.
Prices of small units — those with a floor area of 506 sq ft and below — fell 0.4 per after the 0.7 per cent drop a month earlier, the SRPI data showed.
Mr Nicholas Mak, Executive Director of Research & Consultancy at property firm SLP International, said the first quarter had been challenging period for the private residential property market.
“The relatively faster rate of price decline in March indicates that in the absence of any strong marketing activities or hype in the primary market, the demand and prices in the secondary market could suffer as well … As fewer new projects were launched in the quarter, there was less stimulus for the resale market, which resulted in weaker demand and prices in the secondary market,” he said.
For the whole of 2014, Mr Mak forecasts the weak demand to cause the overall SPRI to fall by 6 to 11 per cent.
“In the coming months, a growing supply of newly completed homes will exert downward pressure on rentals islandwide. The prices of completed residential properties in the central region is expected to fall less than that in the suburbs because about two-thirds of the future supply of new private homes will be in the suburban areas,” he said.
Therefore, the SPRI for homes in the central region is expected to decrease by 5 to 10 per cent, while the SPRI for homes in the non-central areas could drop by 8 to 13 per cent this year, he added.
Source : Today – 28 Apr 2014