Completed condo, private apartment prices slip 0.3%

May 29, 2018

Analyst calls dip a technical blip, says prices still on growth path


Prices of completed private apartments and condominiums dipped 0.3 per cent from March to April.

The decline comes after prices rose 1 per cent from February to March, according to the National University of Singapore's flash estimates yesterday.

Property analyst Nicholas Mak, the executive director of Singapore-based ZACD Group, said the slight decline last month could be a "technical blip" as the market factors that are driving the real estate price growth are still intact.

"The Singapore economy and job market remain healthy. The sentiment in the real estate market is still positive. The residential en bloc sale market is still active," he said.

"Property owners who had sold their homes in recent collective sales would still need to buy properties to replace the ones that they had sold. All these factors would contribute to healthy demand and price growth."

April's price drop was driven by a 0.8 per cent fall in prices for apartments in the central region. This excludes small units, which saw no price change in March.

The central region is defined in this survey as Districts 1 to 4 - including the financial district and Sentosa Cove - and the traditional prime zones of Districts 9, 10 and 11.

Unit prices in the non-central region were flat after rising 1.7 per cent in March, but small or "shoebox" apartments - those not more than 506 sq ft - dropped 0.6 per cent last month compared with an increase of 0.8 per cent in March.

Prices of completed non-landed homes have climbed 1.7 per cent so far this year, led by a 2.3 per cent increase for non-central locations. Central region values are up 0.9 per cent.

Overall prices are 7.9 per cent higher than at the same point last year, with apartments in the central region up by 9.1 per cent while the non-central units are 7 per cent ahead.

Prices of shoebox units have gone up by 2.1 per cent so far this year and 3.1 per cent year-on-year.

Mr Mak said he expects prices to continue to rise this year but added: "However, for monthly price indices, there will always remain the possibility that there could be road bumps, such as technical blips, in the climb to the top."