The prices of private residential property in Singapore increased by eight per cent in the third quarter of this year, compared to the previous three months, according to the flash estimate by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Based on the estimated price index of private residential property, it said prices rose from 147.8 points in the 2nd quarter to 159.6 points in the 3rd quarter.
This represents an increase of 8.0 per cent, compared with the 8.3 per cent rise in the previous quarter.
According to geographical regions, prices of non-landed private residential properties in the Core Central Region increased the most – by 8.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, those in the Outside Central Region went up by 8.1 per cent and in the rest of the Central Region by 7.7 percent.
The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged during the first ten weeks of the quarter, supplemented by information on the number of new units sold.
The information will be updated four weeks later when the URA releases the full 3rd Quarter 2007 real estate statistics.
The URA said the government will continue to monitor prices closely.
It is currently reviewing the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the first half of 2008 and will announce the details at the end of the year.
More sites for private residential development will be made available next year if the demand continues to remain strong.
Currently, about 43,000 new units of private housing are expected to be completed from the second half of this year to 2010.
URA said about 19,900 units or 46 per cent of these have not yet been sold by developers.
Property consultant Knight Frank, responding to URA’s 3rd quarter flash estimate released on Monday, said that for the whole of 2007, private home prices could increase by between 23 and 32 per cent.
It noted that the Singapore property market is still going strong. This is especially in the private suburban residential property market segment, where average prices only started to rise significantly in 2007.
In the third quarter, the increase in the price level was at almost the same rate as that in the prime areas.
As for the HDB market, it expects the average resale flat prices to rise by 13 per cent to 20 per cent year on year.
CB Richard Ellis said the URA’s preliminary estimate shows the confidence in the residential market was unshaken despite periods of volatility in the worldwide stock markets caused by the sub-prime mortgage problems during the third quarter.
The property consultant expects the upward trend in high-end market to continue as there are more high-end projects to be rolled out in the fourth quarter.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it says residential prices may rise by a total of 25 per cent to 30 per cent for the whole year.
In total, the residential price index rose by 22.6 per cent in the first nine months of 2007, following a 10.2 per cent increase in 2006. – CNA/vm/ch
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 01 Oct 2007