It's official: July new home sales down 73%

Sales of new private homes in Singapore plunged in July.

Figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority show that just 481 units of new homes were sold last month, down 73% from June. 1,806 units were sold in June.

Market watchers had anticipated the sharp drop in sales transactions on the back of new loan curbs introduced on 29 June and the lack of new major project launches in July.

The top-selling project during the month was Vue 8 Residence in Pasir Ris, which moved 63 units, followed by Bartley Ridge at Mount Vernon Road with 25 units sold.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), 593 new homes were sold in July, down from 2,119 units transacted in the previous month.

The best-selling EC project was Forestville at Woodlands, which sold 78 new units.
Developers launched a total of 557 new units last month, compared to 2,421 units placed for sale in June.

Source: Channel News Asia

Foreign buyers getting cold feet..?

New private homes sales up 5.4% in May!

Sales of new private homes, excluding executive condominiums, climbed 5.4% to 1,455 units in May.

This is compared to 1,380 new homes sold in April 2013, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

The number of new private homes sold in the city fringes jumped by about 27% from 473 units in April to 602 units in May.

This was mostly due to new project launches in the area.

However, sales of new private homes in the city area dropped to 125 units in May, compared to 178 units in the previous month.

Meanwhile, new private home sales in the suburbs contributed to slightly under half of the sales volume in May.

The take-up rate for new homes remained stable at 728 units in May compared to April's 729 units.

Source: Channel News Asia

Number of private home transacted (Jan'12 - Apr'13)

The sluggish resale market continues...

Source: URA

And you think the biggest beneficiary of ABSD are first-time home buyers...

Our de facto English newspaper reported today that the raft of cooling measures imposed to tame the red-hot property market has delivered more than $1 billion in additional levies to the taxman.

The surge in revenue was bolstered following the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) of up to 15% that was rolled out in January.

About $158 million in ABSD was netted in February and March, bringing the total until March to $1.03 billion since the tax was introduced in December 2011, according to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras).

The January measures - the seventh since September 2009 - also marked the first time that Singaporean investors buying their second homes were penalised with an additional tax.

Foreigners have forked out $580 million in ABSD for 3,041 homes from December 2011 to March this year, while Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) have stumped up $386 million for 7,269 homes, Iras noted. Non-individuals such as companies paid a further $66 million in levies for 285 units.

Home owners have also paid $66.6 million in seller's stamp duties since that levy was introduced in 2010.

This tax of up to 16% is meant to curb speculation and applies to those who sell their homes within four years of purchase.

Experts say the new-sale market has continued to be healthy despite the measures as developers dangle discounts and other incentives to alleviate the ABSD's sting.

Savills Singapore research head Alan Cheong estimates that 30 to 40% of buyers at new launches since the January measures came in are second, third or subsequent home buyers.

"They are creating reasons to buy. It could be for rental income when the population grows to over six million, capital gains or to hedge against the possibility of their children not being able to afford homes in the future," he said.

Iras said Singaporeans and PRs bought 1,031 homes subject to the ABSD in February and March, contributing $97.7 million in additional taxes. They are subject to ABSD rates ranging from 5 to 10%.

Foreigners, subject to a 15% ABSD for all purchases, bought 232 homes with a total of $58.2 million in ABSD collected in the same period. Non-individuals acquired 13 homes with a total of $1.84 million netted.

Foreigners seem to have retreated from the market after the applicable ABSD rate of 10% was increased to 15% in January.

In February and March last year, when only the 10% levy applied, they bought 315 units, according to caveats lodged with the Urban Redevelopment Authority, 36% more than this year.

So everytime you buy a car, our "cheng hu" makes money. And when you buy a  second or more private homes these days, our "cheng hu" makes even more money. So is this what the Chinese termed as "鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利" (The fisherman will benefit from the fight between the Mussel and Snipe)..?

And just in case your wondering where the Chinese idiom "鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利" came from:

Seven states were locked in battle at the end of the Warring States Period (220-280 AD). The Duke Hui of the State of Zhao wanted to conquer the State of Yan (Real Bad). That is, until he talked to Su Dai, one of those advisers.

Su said: "One fine day, a mussel went out to the beach to sunbathe. Meanwhile a snipe (which is a kind of bird that looks like a sandpiper with a long bill) caught sight of the tasty tidbit. He plunged to bite the meat. But the mussel immediately closed up, meaning the snipe could not pull out its beak out of the shell. Both of them became locked in mortal combat. Along came a fisherman and bagged them both.

"If you go to conquer Yan now, Zhao and Yan will be like the mussel and the snipe. Meanwhile the strong Qin State will be make like the fisherman and gobble up both territories."

And so Duke Hui never ate seafood again (just kidding). The idiom of course refers to a mutually-destructive battle between two parties, especially one involving unshakeable principles, thus leaving the coast clear for a third party to swoop in late and sweep up the spoils.

Explanation courtesy of SOHU.com

 

March private home sales quadrupled vis-a-vis February!

Sales of new private homes jumped by more than four times in March, compared to February.

Latest figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that developers sold 2,793 new units (excluding executive condominiums) in March.

This is in sharp contrast to the 712 new private homes moved by private developers in February.

The government announced its latest round of cooling measures in January this year in a bid to cool the Singapore’s property market.

Meanwhile, URA data showed that 1,814 units of new private homes located in the suburbs were sold in March, while developers moved 822 units in the fringes.

But the number of new private homes sold in the city dipped slightly to 157 units.

Source: Channel News Asia

Private home prices growth slows in 1Q2013!

Prices for private homes grew at a slower pace in the first quarter of the year.
Analysts say the slowdown is no surprise, after the government's latest round of cooling measures in January.

For private homes, prices moderated in the first quarter of this year, rising 0.5% on average, according to flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Price index.
The 0.5% rise is smaller than the 1.8% growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Analysts said the January cooling measures curtailed an otherwise rapid rise in property prices.

"The market is still very flush with liquidity in a very low interest rate environment. The measures had an impact in the first two months of its introduction, that is, in the month of January and in particular in the month February when developers did not launch any new projects. If you look at the February numbers, just over 700 units of primary new home sales were done," said Donald Han, special adviser at HSR International Realtors.

Market watchers said prices of high-end properties in the city are expected to stay somewhat flat - up to 1% growth - for the rest of the year.

But private homes in the suburbs will climb as much as 4 to 5% by the end of the year, as demand is stable and developers continue to dish out projects.

Source: Channel News Asia

 

 

 

 

February home sales plummeted 65%..!

Sales of new private homes in Singapore fell sharply in February, due to the Lunar New Year holidays, fewer launches and the government's latest round of cooling measures.

However, analysts said it is still too early to gauge the effectiveness of the cooling measures introduced earlier this year.

According to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, 708 new units were sold during the month, down by almost 65% from January's 2,016 units.

The figure was the lowest recorded since the 632 units booked in December 2011, which coincided with the government's announcement of an additional stamp duty that month.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), just 917 units of new homes changed hands in February, compared to 2,272 units in the previous month.

Analysts said the drop was not surprising as February was a short month and it also included the Lunar New Year, which was typically a lull period in terms of new launches and transactions.

Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex Realty, said: "The drop in February new home sales is also due to the latest cooling measures in January 2013 as potential homeowners are likely to take a wait-and-see attitude.

"Additionally, developers have held back on the project launches for the month and this is evident in only 261 new units that were being launched."

Desmond Sim, CBRE Research's associate director, said: "The full impact of the measures is not felt yet, so the dust has not really settled.

"We don't foresee any new measures coming in at this point in time. We also do not expect the developers to push the envelope to go for higher prices - there will be no more benchmark prices going forward."

In fact, analysts said some developers could offer more discounts to pull in the buyers - a strategy that seemed to have worked for D'leedon near Farrer Road.

It was the top selling project last month, with 166 units sold.

Q bay Residences at Tampines was the next best performer with 74 units sold.

In February, developers sold 341 units of new homes in the suburban areas, 198 units in the core central region and 169 units in the city fringe.

Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at Colliers International, said: "The upcoming launches are mostly on GLS (government land sales) sites, 99-year leasehold sites.

"The fact that there is a requirement for developers for their projects to complete and sell within a prescribed period, there is inherently more urgency for these developers to sell such projects.

"That is why we see these days, developers have been more open to consider discounts and incentives. But those with better balance sheets would probably be able to hold on to prices."

Including executive condominiums (ECs), URA said 917 units of new homes changed hands last month. The Topiary in Sengkang was the best performer, with 84 units sold.

In the latest move to tamp down the red-hot property market, the government in January made it costlier for foreigners to buy property by raising stamp duties, and sharply increased minimum cash down payments for individuals applying for loans for second or subsequent homes to 25% from 10%.

The latest measures were imposed after property prices continued to rise despite an economic slowdown that saw the city-state narrowly avoiding a technical recession last year.

The trade-reliant economy grew just 1.3% in 2012, down from 5.2% in 2011, with 2013 expansion forecast at 1.0-3.0%.

Earlier measures by the government to tame the property market included a move by the central bank in October to impose a maximum tenure of 35 years for new housing loans.

Analysts said market players will continue to closely watch home sales in March for trends.

They expect new home sales in March to do better, in the region of about 1,000 to 1,500 units, with a wider selection of new launches in the market.

For a start, D'Nest at Pasir Ris has already seen a strong take-up on the first day of its preview sales on Friday. About 80% of the 450 units launched have been sold.

The 912-unit condominium project was launched at a special early bird price of about $920psf.

The 332-unit Sennett Residence at Potong Pasir has been popular as well. Over 70% of the project have been snapped up this month.

"Now that the dust is more or less settled, developers have started project launches in March. Hence, March and the coming months will be the real litmus test for market demand and the effectiveness of the cooling measures," Colliers' Chia said.

She added that while home sales are expected to "return to a normalised level" this month, the new measures meant the government "will continue watching the market closely and policy risks remain".

Property stocks tumbled on Friday after the home sales figures were released, with Capitaland down 4.23% to $3.40, City Developments falling 3.67% to $10.76 and Keppel Land easing 2.04% to $3.84.
 

Source: Channel News Asia

Jan 2013 new private home sales jumped 43%

Sales of new private homes in Singapore jumped by about 43% on-month in January 2013, despite the latest round of cooling measures introduced last month.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 2,013 units of new private homes - excluding executive condominiums - were sold in January, compared to 1,410 units sold in December 2012.

A URA spokesperson said about 60% of the 2,013 units were sold before January 12 - before the latest cooling measures took effect.

The remaining 40% of the units were transacted from January 12 onwards.

The rush to beat the January 12 deadline partly caused the spike in new private home sales during what is traditionally a lull period.

Extending sales hours way into the night before the new measures kicked in helped pushed sales at La Fiesta in Sengkang.

The development saw a total of 404 units sold in January - making it the best-selling project for the month.

Out of the total sales, only 44 units were moved at La Fiesta post cooling measures.

Thomas Tan, executive director at RE/MAX Singapore, said: "After the cooling measures were announced, I think the effect will be seen probably after one quarter.

"You will probably see a truer picture - what is really happening in the market - from March or even April onwards, so that the cooling measures can take its course, then buyers can make informed decisions."

Experts said sales discounts in the form of furniture rebates and renovation vouchers also helped move sales after the new measures were implemented.

But they added that sales momentum may run out of steam in the coming months.

Getty Goh, director at Ascendant Assets, said: "In February, we may expect to see good volume but it may not translate to significant price increases. This is because of all the discounts given.

"Right now, although we do not have clear visibility. Going forward, when the Parliament passes new regulations to the developers' act, the Housing Developers' Act, which requires them to start publishing what sort of discounts they are giving, then after that, we will be able to get a better sense of the kind of actual figures that we are talking about here."

Meanwhile, data released by URA on Friday showed that 350 units of new private homes located in the core central region were sold in January.

Developers moved 376 new units in the city fringe and 1,287 units in the suburban areas.

Looking ahead for the full year, experts do not expect total sales in 2013 to surpass the record sales of 22,684 new private homes in 2012.

Source: Channel News Asia

And for those who are interested in d'Leedon, the wife and I understand that 263 units were sold at d'Leedon last month. This, coupled with a total of 848 units sold till Dec 2012, meant that a total of 1,111 units (although data in the URA website indicates 1,110) have been sold as at Jan 2013.

So if the project has indeed moved another 100 units in the first 15 days of February, the "left only less than 500 units" as informed by our agent friend could well be true...

 

 

This just in: 4Q 2012 home prices rose 1.8%

Private home prices rose 1.8% in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to a 0.6% increase in the previous quarter.

But for the whole year of 2012, prices of private residential properties increased by 2.8%, a smaller rise compared to the 5.9% growth recorded in 2011.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday said that prices of non-landed properties outside the central region rose 3.8% in the fourth quarter, compared to an increase of 1% in the third quarter.

Prices of non-landed properties in the core central region edged up 0.7% in Q4. For the rest of the central region, prices increased 0.9%.

Rentals of private homes climbed 0.7% in Q4. For the full year, private home rentals rose 2.1%, compared with the 3.8% increase in 2011.

Source: Channel News Asia

 

 

 

December 2012 prvate home sales: So is this what prompted the latest cooling measures?

Demand for new private residential property in Singapore rebounded in December 2012, following a sharp decline in the previous month.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 1,410 units of new private homes were sold last month, up by about 30% from November's sales of 1,087 units.

Including executive condominiums (EC), the sale of new homes came in at 2,259 units in December.

The best selling project last month was Echelon located at Alexandra View with 331 units changing hands.

In the EC segment, the top performer was CityLife@Tampines which sold 452 units in December.

URA's data showed that 263 units of new private homes located in the core central region were sold during the month.

Meanwhile, developers moved 527 new units in the city fringe and 620 units in the suburban areas.

For the whole of 2012, 22,684 units of new homes, excluding executive condominiums were sold - topping 2010's record high of 16,292 units.

It is also higher than the 16,027 units sold in 2011.

Meanwhile, analysts expect the cooling measures announced last week to have an impact on new home sales in January.

Donald Han, special advisor at HSR, said: "Looking at the numbers, I would expect January to have about 700 to 1000 units being sold -- less activity until the market finds its footing.

"But from March onwards, we could see transaction volume coming back to a normalcy, and normalcy would translate to about 1,600, or 1,650 of new home sales being sold every month for the rest of 2013."

Source: Channel News Asia

Private home prices at record high!

Prices of new private homes in Singapore rose to a new record in the fourth quarter of 2012.

This comes on the back of rising demand for private homes in the sub-urban areas.

Preliminary data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed a 1.8% quarter-on-quarter increase to a record 211.9 points in the fourth-quarter period from the previous quarter.

But prices increased by about 2.8% for the entire 2012, slower than 2011's 5.9% increase.

Despite the last quarter of the year being traditionally slower for the property market, rising demand for private homes lifted the URA Private Residential Property Price Index to its highest level in the last six quarters, according to SLP International.

Mr Eugene Lim, Key Executive Officer of ERA, said: "There have been projects that were launched in Q4. These were on plots of land that were bid at higher prices. So pricing for profit - the developers built on the momentum of the market and they went out at higher prices. So this accounted for a price increase in Q4."

The mass market segment, which are commonly located in the suburbs, increased the most by 3.4%.

SLP International noted that preliminary figures from SLP Research show that 61.3% of all the private homes that were transacted in the last quarter were located in the outside central region (OCR).

The city fringes was 0.9% higher while the high-end market, which are mostly located in the city, rose 0.8%.

For the full year, home prices increased by 2.8% and is slower than the 5.9 per cent rise in 2011.

Analysts say the government's market cooling measures, such as the Additional Buyers' Stamp Duty and the latest mortgage tenure curbs, have been effective to some extent in moderating price growth in 2012.

Prices are expected to climb but moderate in 2013.

Mr Mohd Ismail, CEO of PropNex, said: "I'm not expecting the moderation to come in the first half of this year simply because many of the land sites were bid, very much higher than the first half of last year. The first half, we would see a higher increment of 4%, and the second half of the year tapering between 2-3%. And that's where the overall price increment of about 6-7%."

Some analysts expect the Eurozone crisis to drive high networth individuals to invest in real estate in Singapore, boosting the high-end property market.

The mass market segment should also see double digit increases of 10 to 15% in 2013 due to the rapid land price increases seen in last year's Government Land Sales site tenders.

Source: Channel News Asia

In every ongoing abusive relationship, there is one party who enjoys dishing out the beating and another party who continues to put up with the beating. The wife and I wonder for how long more the abused party is prepared to suffer before calling it quits...

November home sales drop 44%, school holidays to blame.

According to an online report, home buyers snapped up 1,087 new private homes last month. This is 44% down from the close to 2,000 homes sold in October as the school holiday period dampened sales momentum.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), 1,266 homes were sold. Last month, the figure was 2,624 units.

Top selling projects for November include Eco Sanctuary which moved 140 units at a median price of $1,050psf, d'Leedon which sold 133 units at $1,431psf and Bartley Residences where buyers picked up 43 units at $1,230psf.

October home sales fall 25.7%

Sales of new private homes in Singapore declined by about 25.7% to 1,948 units in October, from 2,621 units in September, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

URA said October's sales were led by the mass market segment which sold a total of 1,482 units.

Meanwhile, 144 new homes in the core central region and 322 new units in the city fringe were sold.

The top three best-selling private condominium projects in October were Skies Miltonia which sold 309 units, followed by Riversails with 271 units sold and eCO with 149 units sold.

Including Executive Condominiums (EC), 2,624 units were sold in October - down from 2,771 units in the previous month.

The star performers in the EC segment included Heron Bay at Upper Serangoon with 354 units sold and Waterbay at Edgefield Plains which moved 221 units.

Developers launched a total of 2,410 units of private homes and ECs in October.

Source: Channel News Asia

The new private home sales for August was down 3.6% while September sales was up 84%. And now October sales showed a 25.7% decline. This makes the wife and I wonder if the "see-saw" pattern will persist or will November buck the trend?

 

Click on links below to read our previous posting on the August & September sales data:

http://www.sgproptalk.blogspot.sg/2012/10/september-private-home-sales-up-84.html

http://www.sgproptalk.blogspot.sg/2011/09/august-private-home-sales-drops-36.html





3Q 2012 private home prices rose 0.6%

Singapore's private home prices in the third quarter rose 0.6% from the previous quarter.

This is the highest rate of increase this year compared to the 0.1% drop in the first quarter and the 0.4% increase in the second quarter.

It was also higher than the flash estimate of 0.5% released earlier this month.

Meanwhile, resale prices of Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats in Singapore hit a record high.

HDB's Resale Price Index (RPI) rose from 194 in the second quarter of this year to 197.9 in the third quarter.

This represents an increase of 2% over the previous quarter, the same as that of the flash estimate released on 1 October.

Growth for the first three quarters of this year is 3.9%. 

This is lower than the annual RPI growth of 14.1% in 2010, and 10.7% last year.

"With private property prices still rising, it's no surprise that HDB prices will follow suit," said Mr Chris Koh, housing analyst and director of Chris International.

"We saw quite a number of people who wanted to buy a property, aspired to own one, but when they could not afford it anymore, they instead decided to buy in the HDB resale market. They chose particularly larger flats: five-room flats, executive flats, and this could have pushed percentage prices up."

The volume of resale transactions also fell for the first time in 12 months. Resale transactions also fell by about 6% from 7,011 cases in second quarter to 6,560 cases in the third.

The last fall in resale transactions was in the third quarter of last year when transactions fell from 6,581 in the second quarter, to 5,903 in the third.

In the rental market, subletting transactions rose by about 4%.

The number of cases increased from 6,891 in the second quarter to 7,142 cases in the third quarter.

Source: Channel News Asia

September private home sales up 84%!

Demand for new private homes jumped by 84% in September from August, led mainly by a strong rebound in the mass market segment.

According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), 2,621 new private homes, excluding executive condominiums, were sold in September.

The number is the second highest since 2,772 units were sold in July 2009.

Analysts see this as a strong rebound, particularly when sales in August were 27% lower than in July.

The rebound in September is in sharp contrast to the slow month in August when some home buyers stayed away during the Hungry Ghost Festival, which typically sees fewer property project launches.

Analysts said that such stellar performance may not be repeated in the last quarter of 2012.

Christina Sim, director (residential) at Singapore Cushman & Wakefield, said: "October should not see so many units. I believe it should return back to the normal, maybe to 1,500, to 1,800. November should be even less, and December would be extremely quiet."

Analysts said the latest cooling measure on home loans introduced early this month may also dampen sales figures. The other cooling measures include Additional Buyer Stamp Duty and the Seller's Stamp duty.

Some analysts have said that another round of cooling measures may also be on the cards.

Eric Tan, CEO of GSK Global, said: "Basically, I think the government is looking at liquidity - how the US is going to affect us. Also the increase in prices. So long as prices increase by one to two per cent in the next three-quarters, I believe the government is going to step in and cool the market again with more measures.

"This time round, if the market is going to fall, it is going to be a few times harder than in 1997. It is going to fall very, very hard, because the prices have gone up too much."

In the meantime, the supply of new homes has been increased to curb prices.

Two sites in Tampines were launched for tender under the government land sales programme. Besides these two sites that can yield up to an estimated 1,240 private units, another three sites -- for private homes and executive condos -- were also put up for tender. In all, these five sites can yield some 2,880 units.

Out of the five sites, only one site next to Sky Habitat is located in the city fringes or Rest of Central Region.

Figures showed that 2,062 new units sold in September were located in the suburbs or outside central region. This was more than double the 835 units moved in August.

The number of units located in the core central region climbed 15% from 218 units in August to 251 units in September.

Demand for new homes in the city fringe, however, bucked the trend - 208 units changed hands in September compared to 368 units in August.

Source: Channel News Asia

Q3 private home prices up 0.5%

Prices of private residential properties in Singapore rose 0.5% in the third quarter of 2012, according to flash estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

This was the highest rate of increase this year compared to the 0.1% drop in the first quarter and the 0.4% increase in the second quarter.

The increase in Q3 was led mainly by the mass market segment where prices rose 1%, compared to the 0.5% increase in the previous quarter.

Prices also rose at a faster pace for homes in the city fringe. They were up by 0.7% in Q3, compared to the 0.4% rise in Q2.

Meanwhile, prices of homes in the core central region moderated, recording an increase of 0.2% in Q3, lower than the 0.6% rise in the previous quarter.

Source: Channel News Asia

So are prices going to run rampant again? We'll let you know as soon as we do...


P/S: Happy Birthday to the wife!  

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Q2 home prices rose 0.4%

Prices of private residential properties in Singapore rose by 0.4% in the second quarter of this year, rebounding from a 0.1% fall in the first quarter.

Real estate statistics released on Friday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed prices of non-landed private homes in the core central region increased by 0.6%, while those in the rest of the central region climbed 0.4% in the April to June quarter.

These compared with a 0.6% drop in prices for both regions in the January to March quarter.

For outside central region, prices rose at a slower pace of 0.5% in the second quarter, compared to a 1.1% increase in the first quarter.

Rentals of private homes were up 0.3% in the second quarter, similar to the rate of increase in the last quarter.

URA said the volume of resale transactions jumped from 2,206 units in the first quarter to 3,487 units in the second quarter. Resale transactions accounted for 37% of all sales in the second quarter, compared to 24% in the first quarter.

The number of uncompleted private home units from projects in the pipeline climbed from 78,572 units in the first quarter to 83,251 units as at the end of the second quarter.

URA said the pipeline supply of 83,251 units was the highest ever recorded since such data were first made available in 1999.

Of the supply in the pipeline, 38,175 units remained unsold at the second quarter. 12,124 units (32%) were located in the core central region, while 8,618 units (22%) were in the city fringes. The balance of 17,433 units (46%) were located outside of central region.

Source: Channel News Asia

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Q2 private home prices stage rebound!

Prices of private homes in Singapore swung higher in the second quarter from the previous three months, government data showed on Monday, reversing a short-lived decline in the last quarter.

Preliminary data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed private-residential prices rising 0.4% in the April-June quarter from the previous quarter. Home prices had eased 0.1% in the first quarter in the first decline since the second quarter of 2009.

URA said prices of non-landed private residential properties increased by 0.6 per cent in the core central region in Q2 this year, compared to a decrease of 0.6 per cent in the previous quarter.

There was no change in the prices for private homes in the rest of central region.

Prices of private homes outside the central region increased at a slower pace of 0.4 per cent in Q2, compared to an increase of 1.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

The flash estimates are based on figures from the first ten weeks of the quarter. Full results will be released in a month's time.

Source: Channel News Asia

The Q2 figures bring to mind the chorus of a certain "See Saw Song" written by Duncan Wells:

See saw
teeter-totter tilt
some folks smile some other folks frown
see saw
teeter-totter tilt
one goes up
the other goes down

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February private homes sales up 29%!

Demand for new private homes in Singapore continued to increase in February, after rising sharply in January.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority said excluding executive condominiums, 2,413 new private homes were sold in February, up by about 29% from the previous month.

In January, 1,872 new units changed hands, almost three times more than December's sales.

For February, the best selling projects were mostly located in the suburban areas.

The top seller was Parc Rosewood with 380 units sold.

Guillemard Edge, which is located in the city fringe, also performed well with sales of 275 units.

Meanwhile, home buyers also snapped up executive condominium (EC) units.

257 units of ECs have been sold at Twin Waterfalls, 187 units at The Tampines Trilliant and 186 units at The Rainforest.

Including ECs, a total of 3,138 units were sold last month, up 51% compared to January.

Source: Channel News Asia

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