Private residential property prices fell 1.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014 – a larger decline than the 0.7 per cent slide in the previous quarter, and the fifth consecutive quarter of price decline, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Jan 23).
For the whole of 2014, prices fell by 4 per cent – the first year of overall price decline since 2008, URA said.
Mr Colin Tan, director and head of research and consultancy at Suntec Real Estate Consultants, said: “When the TDSR (Total Debt Servicing Ratio) was introduced to curb loans, people felt that prices would come down a lot quicker, but they have not.
“I think this has a lot to do with the holding power and the fact that interest rates, while creeping up, have not risen to a significant level. You feel that generally prices are also plateauing, which means we may be quite near the bottom.”
Prices of non-landed private residential properties declined in all market segments. In the Core Central Region (CCR), prices fell 0.9 per cent, higher than the 0.8 per cent decline in the previous quarter. Prices in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) fell 1.4 per cent, compared to the 0.4 per cent decline in the previous quarter. In Outside Central Region (OCR), prices fell 0.8 per cent, a greater slide than the 0.3 per cent decline in the previous quarter, according to URA.
For the whole of 2014, prices in CCR, RCR and OCR fell by 4.1 per cent, 5.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.
Prices of landed properties fell 1.3 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the 1.8 per cent decline in the previous quarter. For the whole of 2014, prices of landed properties fell by 5.3 per cent, URA said.
Rentals of private residential properties fell 1 per cent in the fourth quarter, higher than the 0.8 per cent decline in the previous quarter. For the whole of 0214, rentals fell 3 per cent, compared to the 0.9 per cent increase in 2013.
Developers launched 1,592 uncompleted private residential units (excluding Executive Condominiums) during the fourth quarter, up from 1,294 units in the third quarter. For the whole of 2014, 7,693 units were launched, significantly lower than the 15,885 units launched in 2013.
Developers sold 1,376 private residential units (excluding ECs) during the quarter, down from the 1,531 units sold in the previous quarter. For the whole of 2014, developers sold 7,316 units, significantly lower than the 14,948 units sold in 2013.
For ECs, 2,505 units were launched last year – all during the fourth quarter – and 1,578 units were sold.
Overall resale transactions fell to 4,860 units for the whole of 2014, down significantly from the 6,671 units in 2013. The number of transactions fell from 1,377 in the third quarter to 1,151 in the fourth quarter.
URA data also revealed the vacancy rate of completed private residential units (excluding ECs), went up from 7.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2014 to 7.8 per cent at the end of the fourth quarter.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 24 Jan 2015