PRIVATE home prices shot up 7.3 per cent in the final three months of last year, allowing 2009 to finish in positive territory after a horror start.
Yesterday's flash estimates indicated that prices overall increased by 1.7 per cent last year and it was all down to the final, frantic six months.
The 7.3 per cent jump in the October to December period built on a stellar 15.8 per cent surge in the third quarter - the biggest quarterly rise in 28 years and one that ended 12 dismal months of price decline.
'In a bad year, we still managed to show a 1.7 per cent rise in prices. There's certainly optimism in the Singapore property market,' said Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han.
That low overall figure is a stark reminder of how last year shaped up as a year of two halves, with dire results early on and a surge in the second six months.
Mass market housing was the star segment with record levels reached.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data yesterday showed that non-landed home prices in the suburbs edged up 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter. This is far lower than the 16.1 per cent climb in the third but it brought the full-year increase to 11.2 per cent.
'If you want to go for deep discounts, you can't find them now in the mass market,' said Mr Han.
HDB resale prices - up 8 per cent last year to a new high - are helping to support mass market prices, experts said.
Prices of non-landed homes on the city fringes rose 9.5 per cent in the fourth quarter and were up 3.1 per cent overall for the year.
But prices for non-landed city centre homes were down 2 per cent for 2009 although the 7.1 per cent increase for the fourth quarter points to a recovery.
CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said the good response to selective high-end projects launched in the fourth quarter, such as Marina Bay Suites, Cyan and Parvis, had fuelled the price rise.
The robust estimates from the fourth quarter last year have boosted confidence for this year, among the experts at least.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer Nicholas Mak said the 7.3 per cent rise, while smaller than the third quarter's, was still 'quite significant', indicating that there is still sufficient momentum in the market to push prices higher this year.
The Shore Residences in Katong - launched on Jan 1 after a late December preview - did relatively well, selling 183 units out of 338 units that were released.
Overall, experts believe that by the end of the year, prices may have surpassed the previous peak.
Private home prices may rise by about 10 per cent to 12 per cent this year, with a slightly lower increase in the mass market segment and better upside in the high-end segment, experts forecast.
CBRE Research tips a smaller overall rise of 5 to 10 per cent.
PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said prices will head up as more developers will be launching smaller units at higher prices on a per sq ft basis, especially from the second quarter.
While rises are tipped from every quarter, most agree that prices will moderate this year.
Much of the pent-up demand has been satisfied, said DTZ head of South-east Asia research Chua Chor Hoon.
'There will be less panic or euphoric buying in view of the price increases...in 2009 and the possibility of more government measures if prices run ahead of economic fundamentals.
'Affordability is a constraining factor in the mass market segment and any price increase in this segment will depend on the job market.'
Source, Straits Times, 5th January 2010
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