SINGAPORE: Private home prices in Singapore fell for the first time in three years, dropping by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2023, according to flash estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday (Jul 3).
This is the first quarterly decrease in prices since the first quarter of 2020 as price momentum eased across all market segments, said URA.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the index fell by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter following a 3.3 per cent gain in the previous quarter.
The fall in prices comes after several rounds of property cooling measures since December 2021, including the latest increase in additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) which was implemented in April.
“We will continue to keep a close watch on the property market, and adjust our policies as necessary,” said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee in a Facebook post on Monday.
He said that the government has continued to increase housing supply to meet the demand and the Confirmed List supply for private housing, at around 9,250 units for 2023, stands at the highest level in a decade.
The “surprise decline” in property prices could be due to developers pricing their launches sensitively with affordability in mind after the cooling measures, said Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia. He also noted that there were slightly fewer high-profile deals above S$10 million (US$7.4 million) after the cooling measures.
Source: CNA
