The weakness in demand for resale private homes in Singapore has continued into October, as new projects draw buyers away from the secondary market.

Private home resale prices slipped 0.1 per cent in October from the preceding month, mainly due to a price decline in the suburban region, flash estimates from the Singapore Real Estate Exchange showed on Friday.

This was after fallling 1.6 per cent month-on-month in September.

The decline in October was mainly due to a 1.4 per cent price drop for mass-market homes from the preceding month, on top of a 1.5 per cent fall from August to September.

Prices in the city centre also slid 0.5 per cent in October after rebounding 2.5 per cent in September month-on-month.

In the city fringe, however, resale prices increased 0.4 per cent from September to October after falling 3.5 per cent from August to September.

An estimated 486 non-landed homes were resold in October, which was 13.5 per cent higher than September's 428 units sold. However, this figure was still only a third of the 1,435 private homes resold in October last year.

Overall rental prices for private homes also fell 1.5 per cent month-on-month in October to reach their lowest level since June last year.

Suburban rents fell the most, declining 1.9 per cent, while city centre rents sank 1.3 per cent. City fringe rents remained flat.