Private home prices see largest quarterly drop since 2020

Meanwhile, condo purchases rose for the third consecutive quarter.

Prices of private residential properties dipped by 0.7% in Q3 2024, the largest quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) contraction since the first quarter of 2020, Savills Research reveals.

The report said that the decline in URA property index for all private residential properties comes after four consecutive quarters of increase.

Meanwhile, prices of landed homes fell 3.4% on a QoQ basis after increasing for three consecutive quarters, prices of non-landed properties continued trending up for the fifth consecutive quarter by a mere 0.1% in Q3 2024. This was slower than the 0.6% growth in the previous quarter and was the slowest growth in the past five quarters.

Across non-landed homes in the three market segments, prices of homes in the Core Central Region (CCR) decreased by a larger 1.1% QoQ, as compared to 0.3% in the previous quarter. This may be due to the lack of significant launches in recent quarters, leading to lower new sales which are often priced higher than those in the secondary market. Lower foreign demand has also seen property prices in this market segment adjusting downwards.

In the Rest of Central Region (RCR), prices of non-landed homes continued its upward trend for the third consecutive quarter, but at a moderated pace of 0.8% in Q3 2024 compared to 1.6% in Q2. Prices of non-landed homes in Outside of Central Region (OCR), however, remained unchanged for the first time after increasing for six consecutive quarters. Nevertheless, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, non-landed home prices across all three market segments continued to record increases.

Prices of Savills’ luxury non-landed private residential projects declined marginally by 0.4% QoQ to S$2,582 psf in Q3 2024. It was unchanged in Q2 2024. This was in line with the movement of the URA price index of non-landed residential properties in CCR. Transaction volume have also decreased. On a YoY basis, prices contracted for the first time since Q4/2020, falling by 0.7%.

With the rebound in the number of units launched mainly in the RCR and OCR in Q3, which provided a wider variety of options to homebuyers, new sales expanded 60% QoQ. However, it was still 40.4% lower on a YoY basis. New sales in RCR and OCR grew by 70% and 72.7% QoQ respectively. For OCR, this was the second consecutive quarter that new sales have surpassed launches.

For CCR, this was the sixth consecutive quarter of decline. Despite this, new sales still exceeded launches in the market segment. New sales in CCR only constituted 4.7% of total new sales in the quarter, while those in RCR and OCR comprised 33.7% and 61.6% respectively.

“We observed renewed confidence from the stronger activity in the market, fuelled by the expectation of lower interest rates and positive buyer sentiment. The optimism in the market continues as upcoming launches are expected to drive activity towards the end of the year. Most of the non-landed private property buyers are Singapore citizens and permanent residents, including a notable number of younger buyers. Foreign purchases, however, remain limited, as the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) has dampened demand,” George Tan, Managing Director, Livethere Residential, Savills Singapore said.