Average resale price of leasehold condominiums inched up by 0.8% in Q1 2011:DTZ

The average resale price of freehold non-landed condiminiums in the prime districts of 9, 10 and 11 rose by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter.

According to DTZ Research, prices of non-landed resale homes continued to rise in Q1 2011 but at a more moderate pace compared to the previous quarter.

This is despite slower market activity due to the January round of government cooling measures. The average resale price of leasehold condominiums in the suburban areas inched upwards by 0.8% to $665 per sq ft while the average resale price of freehold non-landed condominiums in the prime districts of 9, 10 and 11 grew marginally by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter (QOQ) to $1,525 per sq ft.

Luxury condominiums in the prime districts continued to see prices maintaining at an average of $2,630 per sq ft on the secondary market for the second consecutive quarter, as there is a smaller pool of buyers for this segment coupled with more supply from newly completed and to-be-completed projects. Prices in this segment are 6% below the 2007 peak.

The landed segment continued to outshine the non-landed segment in terms of price growth. Nevertheless, the pace of price increase has also slowed down in the quarter. Landed resale freehold units in the prime districts rose 2.2% QOQ to $1,730 per sq ft on average, compared to the 5.1% growth in Q4 2010. Outside the prime districts, resale landed prices grew 2.3% to an average of $1,015 per sq ft, compared to the 4.3% increase a quarter ago.

Ms Chua Chor Hoon, Head of DTZ South East Asia Research noted: “Real estate remains an asset class which people feel secure to park their finances with in this high inflation environment. Nevertheless 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.”