Private home prices fall 0.3% in Q2


Private home prices here have posted a 15th straight quarter of decline, but analysts see signs the market is getting closer to the bottom.

It was the shallowest drop since the fourth quarter of 2013, when prices started falling as the then-latest cooling measures kicked in that year.

Prices are down 11.6 per cent from the peak in April 2013.

They see this as a positive sign that buyers are holding out for good buys.

Urban Redevelopment Authority estimates out yesterday show prices fell by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter from the first three months this year.

DECLINE

JLL national director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui said: "The decline in the second quarter, followed by the softening in the first... is indicative of a further moderation in price decline and the market heading closer to the bottom.

"It is likely to be read positively by the market and have a favourable effect on buyers."

Prices of landed properties fell only 0.4 per cent in the second quarter to June, compared with a 1.8 per cent fall in the previous quarter.

Non-landed property prices mostly softened, reversing some growth in the previous quarter.

The star performer was non-landed property in the "rest of the central region", posting price growth of 0.5 per cent.

The region covers areas such as Marine Parade and Bishan.

Non-landed properties in the core central region fell the most, by 0.9 per cent, which Dr Lee Nai Jia, head of research at Edmund Tie & Co, said was "likely to be weighed down by transactions of older developments and mortgagee sales".

The flash estimates are compiled based on sale prices given in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment, and data on units sold by developers, up until the middle of last month.

Recent tweaks to property market curbs helped buying sentiment somewhat, but is not considered a major factor.

ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim said: "Buyers holding back while waiting for a further relaxation of the cooling measures might now decide it is fruitless to wait any more and would enter the market progressively as opportunities present themselves."

JLL's Mr Ong said buyers are finding landed prices more attractive and this led to 527 units transacted in the second quarter, 56.8 per cent higher than in the first quarter, "and the highest quarterly landed sales volume since the fourth quarter of 2012".

He added: "The landed market may be on the road to bottoming if interest is sustained."

Housing Board resale prices dipped just 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, less than the 0.5 per cent fall in the first quarter."