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Non-landed private home prices up 1%

Tuesday 31 May 2011

SINGAPORE - Private non-landed home prices in Singapore rose at a slightly higher pace last month, according to the Singapore Residential Price Index by the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The index, which covers only completed units, was up 1 per cent to 162.4, after a rise of 0.2 per cent each month for February and March. Experts pointed to pent-up demand after a hiatus following the property cooling measures introduced in January, which included seller's stamp duties as high as 16 per cent.

Mr Ong Kah Seng, senior manager of research, Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield, said: "It is a reflection of pent-up demand and also the home buyers who deliberated for quite a couple of months before proceeding with their home buying decision."

"In April, developer sales achieved a five-month high of 1,788 units, reflecting positive primary private residential market sentiment which somehow spilled over to the secondary market."

Others also attributed the increase to a shift in demand from the developers' sales market to the resale market.

Ms Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at Colliers, said: "Due to a lag in the filter-through effect of price increases from the primary to the resale market, buyers could have entered the resale market for fear of missing the boat and before prices increase further, particularly for affordably priced units in completed developments with good attributes."

The index is split into two sub-indices. The index for homes in the central area rose 0.8 per cent last month and that for non-central properties rose 1.1 per cent.

Source: Today