Private home prices slip 0.1% q-o-q in Q4, rise 7.9% in 2018: URA flash estimate

Private home prices eased 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2018 over the preceding three months, according to a flash estimate provided by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday morning.

However, for the whole of 2018, the private residential property price index increased 7.9%, outpacing the 1.1% increase chalked up in 2017. The 0.1% decrease in the fourth quarter comes after a quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.5% in Q3 of 2018. In the fourth quarter, prices of landed homes fell 1.8% over the previous quarter, following a 2.3% increase in the third quarter.

Prices of non-landed private homes inched up 0.3% in the fourth quarter, after remaining flat in the previous quarter. Giving a breakdown of non-landed private home prices by region in the fourth quarter, the URA said that prices fell by 1.5% in the prime areas or core central region (CCR), versus a 1.3% increase in the previous quarter. Prices in the city fringe or rest of the central region (RCR) increased by 1.8% after a decrease of 1.3% in the previous quarter. Prices in the suburbs or outside the central region (OCR) edged up 0.8% after registering a 0.1% dip in the previous quarter.

For 2018 as a whole, prices in the CCR, RCR and OCR have increased by 6.2%, 7.4% and 9.5% respectively. 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 until mid-December. The statistics will be updated on Jan 25 when URA releases its full set of real estate statistics for the fourth quarter of 2018.

Adapted from The Business Times, 2 Jan 2019.