Singapore remains the world's second-most expensive housing market after Hong Kong, according to an annual CBRE report which compares private residential property markets across 35 cities. But average price growth was significantly slower, at just 1.1 per cent.

Hong Kong kept its top position with an average residential property costing US$1.235 million (S$1.67 million) or US$2,091 per square foot (psf). Singapore came a distant second at US$874,372 or US$1,063 psf, with Shanghai third at US$872,555 or US$714 psf.

These top three cities have all introduced cooling measures, CBRE noted.

Asian cities took half of the spots in the top 10, with Shenzhen coming in fifth and Beijing, ninth. The other cities on the list were Vancouver (4th), Los Angeles (6th), New York (7th), London (8th) and Paris (10th).

Singapore's private property market saw average price growth of 1.1 per cent last year, far outpaced by Hong Kong's and Shanghai's growth rates of 5.5 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively, and ranking 27th out of the 35 cities studied.

The report's property data for Singapore comes from the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Realis database, which covers only private-property transactions.

CBRE head of research for South-east Asia Desmond Sim said: "As a financial hub, Singapore is known for its skilled talent, ease of doing business, top-notch infrastructure, as well as economic and political stability. Singapore has always been an attractive location for multinational companies to establish their regional headquarters. These factors influence the cost of property ownership in the city."

He noted that following property curbs introduced last year, price growth declined for the second straight quarter in Q1 2019, after five consecutive quarters of strong growth since Q3 2017.

"Coupled with increasing supply and weaker sentiment, prices are likely to moderate or remain flat from this year," he added.