Resale prices of private homes in S’pore dip 0.2% in May

Resale prices of private homes in Singapore dipped 0.2 per cent in May, compared to the previous month’s 1.9 per cent price increase.

The fall was mainly due to price declines in non-central and small units.

This is according to the latest Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) flash estimates published by the Institute of Real Estate Studies at the National University of Singapore on Friday.

Prices of private homes outside the central region declined by 1.6 per cent in May, almost completely reversing the 1.8 per cent gains it recorded in April.

Meanwhile, prices of small units, defined as 506 square feet or less, also registered a dip of 1.3 per cent in May compared to a 1.4 per cent rise in April.

Analysts said the decline is most likely due to property market cooling measures that came into effect in January.

OrangeTee’s head of research and consultancy Christine Li said: “There were also some uncertainties over Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May 22 comment on the possible tapering of QE and as a result, market sentiment was somewhat affected as stock market prices corrected sharply.”

Bucking the trend are prices of resale homes in the central region, which rose 1.5 per cent last month, down from the 1.9 per cent increase in April.

Source – CNA – 28 Jun 2013