BT FILE PHOTO
SINGAPORE'S private residential price index declined 0.7 per cent in the first quarter this year, following a 0.1 per cent decrease in the fourth quarter according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) statistics.
The Q1 fall was slightly steeper than the 0.6 per cent decrease in URA's flash estimate released earlier this month.
In the first quarter of this year, non-landed home prices fell 1.1 per cent, compared with the 0.5 per cent increase in the previous quarter.
But landed home prices rose 1.1 per cent in the quarter, after declining 2.0 per cent in the previous quarter.
Giving a breakdown by location, URA said prices of Core Central Region (CCR) non-landed properties decreased by 3.0 per cent, compared with the 1.0 per cent decline in Q4. Meanwhile, prices of non-landed properties in Rest of Central Region (RCR) slipped 0.7 per cent, compared with the 1.8 per cent increase in the previous quarter. Prices for such properties in Outside Central Region (OCR) inched up by 0.2 per cent, compared with Q4's 0.7 per cent increase.
Giving a breakdown by location, URA said prices of Core Central Region (CCR) non-landed properties decreased by 3.0 per cent, compared with the 1.0 per cent decline in Q4. Meanwhile, prices of non-landed properties in Rest of Central Region (RCR) slipped 0.7 per cent, compared with the 1.8 per cent increase in the previous quarter. Prices for such properties in Outside Central Region (OCR) inched up by 0.2 per cent, compared with Q4's 0.7 per cent increase.
As for private home rents, they rose 1.0 per cent in the first quarter, after falling 1.0 per cent in Q4. For landed properties, they edged up 0.2 per cent in the quarter, compared with the 2.1 per cent decrease in the previous quarter. Rents of non-landed properties increased by 1.1 per cent, compared with the 0.8 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.
The vacancy rate of completed private residential units, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), dipped to 6.3 per cent as at end-March 2019, from 6.4 per cent in the previous quarter. ECs are a public-private housing hybrid.
In Q1, developers launched 2,989 uncompleted private residential units compared with 1,657 units in the previous quarter. No ECs were launched in the quarter.
They sold 1,838 private residential units (excluding ECs) in the first quarter, compared with the 1,836 units sold in the previous quarter. Developers sold 10 EC units from previous launches over the period.
As at the end of the first quarter, there was a total supply of 53,284 uncompleted private residential units (excluding ECs) in the pipeline with planning approvals, compared with the 51,498 units in Q4. Of this, 36,839 units remained unsold as at the end of the first quarter, up from 34,824 units in the previous quarter.
There is also a pipeline supply of 3,519 EC units with planning approvals. Out of this, 1,871 remain unsold. This means that in total, including ECs, there were 56,803 units in the pipeline with planning approvals. Out of this, 38,710 remained unsold, up from 35,649 units in the previous quarter.
In addition, there is also is a potential supply of 5,200 units (including ECs) from Government Land Sales (GLS) sites and awarded en-bloc sale sites that have not been granted planning approval yet.
Source: SRX (26 Apr 2019)