Private resale homes prices are continuing to hit record highs. However the pace of increase slowed this quarter, according to a report by DTZ.
This weakening rise is likely to come to a stop over the rest of the year as recent cooling measures on residential market take effect, it said.
‘Sales volume is expected to be lower as sellers continue to maintain their asking prices while potential buyers hold out for lower prices.’
The report said resale freehold condo prices in prime districts 9, 10 and 11 rose 1.4% to touch $1,513 psf, slowing from a 2.6% rise in the second quarter. Reason could be due to well-heeled investors remaining cautious about the growth of major economies in the West.
But the price level is already above the previous 2007 record of $1,483 psf.
Luxury condos – where prices are still just below the 2007 peak – also saw a slower rise, of 1.6% quarter-on-quarter, to $2,630 psf.
The landed homes market was not spared the slowdown. Prices of prime freehold landed homes rose by 2% quarter-on-quarter to $1,611 psf, compared with the 3.3% growth in the second quarter of this year.
Outside the prime districts, landed property prices inched up by 1.7% to $952 psf. But this increase means these prices have, for the first time, surpassed the high of $943 psf recorded during the 1996 boom.
DTZ said resale prices of suburban leasehold homes increased by 2% to $660 psf in this third quarter.
This compares with a 4% rise in the second quarter, which took prices to $648 psf. The 2007 peak for these homes was $615 psf.