A Knight Frank study of a sampling of property options signed mostly last Dec showed the prices of many condominiums fell in a quiet month.

In developments which had registered more than one recent sale, prices have fallen by 4.6 per cent to 10.9 per cent, it said. Prices of a few developments, however, have remained steady or even risen.

Knight Frank compared individual options of a development with median prices of caveats lodged in the previous three quarters. There may be a time lag for caveats lodged as lodging a caveat is voluntary, it said.

The consultancy was unable to identify a general trend by locality or wider region as the number of options was limited. Also, the characteristics of a particular unit, such as which floor it is on, can influence prices.

At the 910-unit City Square Residences near Farrer Park MRT station, for instance, prices of recent options signed ranged from lower to largely flat from the third quarter at $789 to $964 per sq ft.

While its prices have gradually come down from the second quarter, they are way above the April 2005 soft launch price of $560 psf on average.

Overall, home prices are expected to further weaken in the next three to six months, with a bigger plunge in prices of high-end projects than mass market ones, said Knight Frank's director of research and consultancy, Nicholas Mak.

Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.