Prices of completed non-landed private homes climbed at a slower pace last month, appreciating 0.7 per cent month-on-month, according to the National University of Singapore's (NUS) flash estimates for its Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) released yesterday. In May, prices rose 1.6 per cent, up slightly from the preliminary estimate of 1.5 per cent.

The slower pace of increase applied to most segments of the market. Excluding small units, prices for apartments in the central region rose 0.4 per cent last month from 2 per cent in May, while those outside the central region rose 0.8 per cent from 1.4 per cent in May.

For small units, defined as those no bigger than 506 sq ft, prices maintained a 1.1 per cent increase across both months.

One possible reason for the faster increase for small units compared with the other price indices was a marginal rise in the proportion of small resale units transacted, from 6.9 per cent of overall resale property volume in May to 7.1 per cent last month, said ZACD Group executive director Nicholas Mak.

"This increase in demand could have supported the price growth in June," he noted. "Furthermore, for three consecutive months from March to May 2018, the growth rate of the SRPI small units was lower than that of the overall SRPI. In June 2018, the growth rate of the SRPI small units finally caught up."

NUS' Institute of Real Estate Studies, which developed the SRPI series, defines the central region as Districts 1 to 4, including the financial district and Sentosa Cove, and the traditional prime residential districts of 9, 10 and 11.

Year-to-date, prices for the overall market are up 4.2 per cent, led by 4.6 per cent increases in the non-central region and in small units. Year-on-year prices have risen 9.2 per cent, driven by a 9.4 per cent increase in the central region and a 9 per cent gain in the non-central region.