Resale prices in the private housing segment took a dip in July after two months of increase, although values were still higher than at the start of the year.
Prices for non-landed homes were down by 0.5 per cent from June but they were still 2.2 per cent higher than in January, according to SRX Property flash estimates released yesterday.
The results were mixed across the island, with resale prices outside the central region falling by 1.9 per cent from June to last month.
But prices in the core area of the central region rose 0.6 per cent and inched up 0.4 per cent elsewhere in that zone.
The overall 0.5 per cent decline last month follows a 0.7 per cent gain made from May to June. SRX Property revised this figure down from an initial 0.9 per cent rise.
Resale prices in July were still 2 per cent higher than in the same month last year, thanks to a 4.8 per cent increase in the core central region and a 4.4 per cent lift in the rest of the central region.
But the figures remained lower by 5 per cent from their peak in January 2014.
SRX said last month's median prices were flat against its computer-generated estimated market values.
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1.9 %
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Percentage fall of resale prices outside the central region from June to July.
This was down from June, when buyers overpaid by a median of $1,000.
Dr Lee Nai Jia, head of research at Edmund Tie & Company, said the increase in central home prices looks set to continue, "as buyers' sentiments are reinforced by the bullish land bids and the higher take-up rates of recent launches".
He pointed to the strong performance of luxury apartments such as Martin Modern, which sold close to 90 units in its launch weekend.
Last Saturday, Chinese developer Qingjian Realty sold more than half of the 516 homes at its new Le Quest mixed development in Bukit Batok, with an average selling price of roughly $1,280 per sq ft.
Sales of new homes have soared this year, with more than 6,500 units snapped up - excluding executive condominiums - in the first six months of the year, a 72 per cent jump from the same period last year.
On the resale front, though, the SRX flash figures showed a 9.7 per cent monthly decrease in the number of units moved.
There were 952 sales of non-landed private homes last month, down from 1,054 in June.
"Notwithstanding, the fall is likely to be a blip," Dr Lee said.
July resales were still 20.1 per cent higher than for the same month last year.
