Chart of the Day: Posh condo prices edged up 1.4% to S$2,429psf

Cooling measures hurt luxury sector badly.

According to Savills, the average price of luxury condominiums tracked by the firm posted the fourth quarterly rise of 1.4% in Q1 to S$2,429 per sq ft, still 3% shy of the decade’s peak in Q4/2007. 

According to the URA’s fl ash estimates, prices of private non-landed homes in Core Central Region (CCR) inched up 0.4% in Q1 after a 0.7% increase in Q4/2012.

Here's more from Savills:

Those in Outside Central Region (OCR) climbed 1.7%, less than half the 3.8% increase in Q4/2012. Rents of luxury condominiums tracked by Savills softened for the seventh consecutive quarter, albeit marginally by 0.2% in Q1.

The luxury sector had been the hardest hit by the slew of cooling measures, as overseas buyers, constituting almost half of purchasers in the CCR in 2011, fled the market. Several developers of luxury homes have put their unsold units up for lease instead, increasing the pressure on rents.

Meanwhile, the global economic woes and rising costs compelled businesses to trim their rental budgets.