Prices of non-landed private residential properties slipped further in 1Q14

Based on URA's flash estimate.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has released the flash estimate of the price index for private residential property for 1st Quarter 2014, which revealed that the private residential property index fell 2.7 points from 214.3 points in 4th Quarter 2013 to 211.6 points in 1st Quarter 2014. This represents a decline of 1.3%, compared to the 0.9% decline in the previous quarter.

Prices of non-landed private residential properties in all market segments declined in 1st Quarter 2014.

In Core Central Region, prices fell 1.3% after declining 2.1% in the previous quarter. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of price decline in this segment.

Prices in Outside Central Region decreased for the second consecutive quarter, by 0.3%, compared to the 1.0% decrease in the previous quarter.

In Rest of Central Region, prices fell 2.8%, compared with the 0.4% increase in the previous quarter. Pricesof landed private residential properties fell for the second consecutive quarter, by 0.6%, after the decline of 1.0% in the previous quarter.

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged during the first ten weeks of the quarter, supplemented by survey data on new units sold by developers in the first two months of the quarter. The statistics will be updated 4 weeks later when URA releases the full real estate statistics for 1st Quarter 2014, which captures more data on the caveats lodged and the take-up of new projects. Past data have shown that the difference between the quarterly price changes indicated by the flash estimate and the actual price changes could be significant when the change is small. The public is advised to interpret the flash estimates with caution.