Private home price index slows to 0.5% in Q3: URA

This comes from a 3.4% growth the previous quarter.

The private residential property price index extended its steep downtrend after falling to 0.5% in Q3, according to flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The index has steadily fallen from 3.9% in Q1 to 3.4% in Q2.

The pace of growth represents an increase of a mere 0.7 points to 149.7 in Q3, pointing to an evident slowdown as the impact of the government’s cooling measures in July appear to be making itself known.

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“With the cooling measures in place, it is unlikely that private residential prices will continue to increase at the existing pace. Sales are likely to be slower as more buyers, especially those buying a second home to invest, are likely to wait on the sidelines," Dr Lee Nai Jia, senior director & head, research, Knight Frank Singapore said in a statement.

In a breakdown, the prices of non-landed private residential properties in Core Central Region (CCR) picked up marginally from 0.9% in Q2 to 1.2% in Q3. However, prices in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) fell from 5.6% in Q2 to 0.8% in Q3 along with prices in Outside Central Region (OCR) which fell from 3% to 0.1% over the same period.

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment and data on units sold by developers up till mid-September.