Home prices for private residences in Singapore fell by 1.8 percent in the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest flash reports form the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Housing Development Board. While the overall market for public housing grew by 4.2 percent in the quarter, this is the first time that private property prices have fallen in four years.
Singapore’s Housing Development Board (HBD) develops and sells property that is considered public housing, and this sector did see a substantial increase in the third quarter. Nicholas Mak, Director of Consultancy and Research at Knight Frank, attributes this to “the healthy demand for resale HBD flats as a result of the increase in the number of permanent residents in Singapore and the demand from newly formed families.”
In contrast, prices of higher end private property properties in the Core Central Region dropped 2 percent in the quarter and in the Rest of Central Region they dropped by 2.1 percent. “The drop in prices came not as a surprise as US financial problems and global economic slowdown had already weighed down investment sentiments and caused local transaction volume of private homes to diminish since the second half of 2007. As the US financial and economic problems persisted, it was only a matter of time before overall private home prices started to fall as well,” said Mr.Mak.
It is expected that private property prices will continue to decrease into 2009. There are several planned developments that will open late in 2009 and 2010 that should help the market get back into the positive trends. Marina Bay Sands is expected to open at the end of 2009, while Genting’s Resorts World at Sentosa has a planned opening in the second half of 2010.
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