SINGAPORE (July 26): Singapore’s private residential price index increased for the first time since property cooling measures were introduced last July, according to 2Q19 real estate statistics released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday morning.
The private residential price index was 1.5% higher this quarter, compared to a 0.7% drop in the previous quarter and exceeding earlier flash estimate of 1.3%.
This was boosted by non-landed properties increasing by 2.0% q-o-q, but partially offset by a 0.1% decrease in landed property prices.
Rentals of private residential properties also saw a 1.3% increase from a 1.0% increase in the last quarter.
For the second quarter of 2019, developers launched 2,502 uncompleted private residential units (excluding ECs) for sale, compared with 2,989 units last quarter; while developers sold 2,350 private residential units (excluding ECs), compared with 1,838 units sold in the previous quarter.
There were no launches of any EC units during the period, but 10 EC units were sold from previous launches over the period.
Resale transactions were also higher during the quarter with 2,371 transactions recorded, compared with 1,858 units in 1Q19. Resale transactions accounted for 49.7% of all sale transactions for the period.
In the pipeline, there was a total supply of 50,674 uncompleted private residential units (excluding ECs) with planning approvals, a drop from 53,284 units in the previous quarter. And 33,673 units from this quarter remained unsold.
Commenting on the data, Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty, says, “Amid the presence of underlying global uncertainties and trade tensions, the stable nature of the residential property market remains a silver lining and driving sales momentum in the second quarter. This can be attributed to a slew of new launches and rightly priced projects captivating the interest of buyers and investors. This is a trend that we expect to continue for the remainder of the year, with momentum and demand staying resilient. Furthermore, based on our analysis, RCR (Rest of Central Region) was the best performing market segment, with an increase of 27.7% for the first 6 months of 2019, as compared to the corresponding time period in 2018.”
Gafoor also predicts that the private new sale segment will likely cross the 9,000 mark for the entire year.
Meanwhile, Christine Sun, head of research at OrangeTee & Tie, says, “The higher launch prices are within expectation due to the higher land cost and many projects commanding a price premium due to their excellent location, freehold status, and distinctive designs.”
“Given the sustained interest for private properties, we may expect private home prices to trend further up for the rest of 2019. Barring any external market shock, prices may rise marginally by 1 to 3% for the full year,” Sun adds.
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