Private home prices rise to an all-time high

URA’s flash estimate shows overall prices rising more than 16% above its 2Q08 peak.

According to the government agency’s figures, overall prices would have appreciated by 5.9% as of end 2011 and are at an all time high at 16.2% and 13.7% above the 2Q08 and 2Q96 peaks, respectively.

Colliers International noted, however, that the preliminary figures show that this is the smallest quarterly growth experienced since the market bottomed in 2Q09.

The property analyst said a “confluence of a variety of factors” such as the market cooling measures including those imposed in January 2011, the ramped up State land supply, a cautious economic outlook and increased prudence and price sensitivity have worked to contain price growth.

Attention is now focused on the Outside Central Region (OCR) or mass-market segment as Core Central Region (CCR) and the Rest of Central Region (RCR) as the activities in the two regions remained slow in 4Q11.

Price growth in OCR rose approximately 7.7% in 2011 based on URA’s flash estimate, compared to 4% and 4.4% for CCR and RCR, respectively.

Quarterly price growth for the three regions, however, inched up less than 1% in 4Q11. Private home prices in the OCR grew by 0.6% QoQ, slower than the 2.1% growth a quarter earlier.

Price growth in the CCR has also moderated to a mere 0.5% while home prices in the RCR remained unchanged during the quarter.