Prices of private homes slightly up in 3Q

Overall private residential property index rose marginally by 0.5%.

The URA released today the flash estimate of the price index for private residential property for 3rd Quarter 2012.

The overall private residential property index rose from 206.9 points in 2nd Quarter 2012 to 208.0 points in 3rd Quarter 2012. This represents an increase of 0.5%, compared to the 0.4% increase in the previous quarter.

The pace of change in prices varied across the different market segments.

Prices of non-landed private residential properties increased by 0.2% in Core Central Region in 3rd Quarter 2012, compared to an increase of 0.6% in the previous quarter. Prices in Rest of Central Region increased by 0.7%, compared to the 0.4% increase in the previous quarter. For Outside Central Region, prices increased by 1.0% in 3rd Quarter 2012, compared to an increase of 0.5% 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 information on the number of new units sold by developers.

The statistics will be updated 4 weeks later when URA releases the full 3rd Quarter 2012 real estate statistics, when more data on the caveats lodged and the take-up of new projects are captured. 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, said URA.