Singapore private apartment resale prices fall 2.1% in 2015: SRX

Private apartments near East Coast Parkway. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - Resale prices of private apartments fell in December although volumes again were higher compared with a year ago.

Private apartment resale prices fell 0.8 per cent from November after rising 0.6 per cent in the previous month, according to SRX's Price Index.

"We attribute this to monthly price fluctuations, which could go in either direction, but are expected to be small in magnitude," said ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim.

"The general downtrend of prices is expected to continue, with demand being slow due to strict loan restrictions and rising interest rates."

Still, he noted that the overall price decline of 2.1 per cent in 2015 is smaller than the 4 per cent decline in 2014, according to SRX data - which should be some consolation to home owners.

December 2015 resale prices were also down by 7.8 per cent compared with the recent peak in January 2014, SRX noted.

The fall in resale prices in December was seen across all regions.

The core central region, rest of central region and outside central region recorded price decreases of 0.5 per cent, 1.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

Still, resale volume of private apartments rose 10 per cent in December compared with November, with an estimated 519 transactions.

This was 44.2 per cent higher compared with December 2014, and likely came as the number of new launches have moderated and buyers begin to see value as resale prices fall.

ERA's Mr Lim noted a fair amount of bargain-hunting among resale buyers. "Motivated sellers in the resale market are generally more negotiable," he said.

Yet, this is no cause for champagne- resale volume was down by 74.7 per cent compared with the peak of 2,050 units resold in April 2010.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.