Singapore condo prices inch up in July from central region gains
Singapore condo prices inch up in July from central region gains
Values in both central and non-central regions sink year-on-year though
Condominium values in the central region of Singapore are still in the growth lane.
Last month, prices for non-landed residential units in the region inched up by 0.7 percent, a faint echo of the 0.9 percent increase detected in June, data released Monday in the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index shows.
The uptick in the central region is largely credited for buoying values of completed apartments all over the island by 0.2 percent. Values of completed apartments had increased by 0.7 percent island-wide in June.
“Prices have somewhat stabilised and people have been… on the sidelines for about two years,” PropNex executive director Kelvin Fong told the Straits Times. “So while some may still be waiting for prices to drop further, others have returned to the market.”
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Lagging behind is the country’s non-central region, where values dropped 0.2 percent in July, compared with a 0.6 percent increase in the previous month. Year-on-year, prices in the area slumped by 2.3 percent.
The central region did not fare any better, registering a year-on-year drop of 1.3 percent.
After inching up 0.4 percent in June, prices of small units, i.e. those measuring 506 square feet or below, stood unchanged in July.
Long-term investors remain in Singapore’s luxury property market, according to Jennifer Chia, executive director and head of corporate real estate at TSMP Law Corporation.
“Most of them have ties to Singapore – Singaporeans or permanent residents, or those who see Singapore as a place they will live in the longer term,” Chia told the Straits Times. “People with the cash reserves to buy did not want to be caught off-guard if there were going to be changes to the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty. But now that the Government has been signalling cooling measures may not be lifted in the near future, they have decided not to hold off any longer.”
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Source: Property Report