Singapore cooling measures begin to bite, according to NUS statistics

The National University of Singapore found that residential prices fell in the country from January to February.

Statistics released yesterday appear to show that the latest round of cooling measures in Singapore have begun to affect the property market, according to Today newspaper.

The NUS Private Residential Price Index, which tracks month-on-month price movements of private, non-landed residential properties, fell 0.4 per cent from January to February. Prices of central area properties continued to gain though, rising by 1 per cent, while prices in non-central areas dropped 1.5 per cent.

Analysts attributed the drop to the cooling measures passed in January, which included higher stamp duties and and a reduction in the amount of credit available to those who already have mortgages.

Mr Liang Thow Ming, head of residential services at Credo Real Estate, said that the overall decline was too marginal to confirm a trend. “But in a way, it does suggest that the market has taken a breather, as compared to how it was behaving last year and in January this year,” he said.

Meanwhile, real estate services firm DTZ pointed out that prices of prime and suburban resale homes continued to rise in the first quarter, but at a more moderate pace, while luxury resale home prices remained unchanged. According to DTZ, the average resale price of leasehold condominiums in suburban areas inched upwards by 0.8 per cent to S$665 (US$527) per sq ft, while average resale prices of freehold non-landed condominiums in price districts grew 0.4 per cent on quarter to S$1,525 (US$1,208) per sq ft. Luxury condominiums in prime areas remained unchanged at an average of S$2,630 (US$2,084) per square foot for the second consecutive quarter, DTZ said.

“We expect the pace of increase in prices to continue to slow down and plateau. There is more uncertainty this year, not just from the possibility of more cooling measures, but also from the recent regional events in the Middle East and Japan, the full impact of which are still not known,” said Ms Chua Chor Hoon, head of DTZ South East Asia Research.