SINGAPORE – Singapore’s private home prices rose at a faster pace in the third quarter of this year despite tight Covid-19 restrictions, driven by a sharp increase in landed housing prices.

Private property values climbed 1.1 per cent from the previous quarter, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Oct 22). This was higher than the 0.8 per cent rise in the second quarter, and came after the 3.3 per cent gain in the first.

The increase was also slightly above the flash estimate of a 0.9 per cent rise.

Year on year, prices rose 7.5 per cent and were up 5.3 per cent to date this year.

In terms of property type, prices of landed properties jumped 2.6 per cent in the third quarter, compared with a 0.3 per cent drop in the second quarter.

Prices rose at a slower pace for condominiums and apartments, up just 0.7 per cent in the third quarter, compared with a 1.1 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

This was due to slower price growth in the prime or core central region, and also in the suburbs or outside central region.

In the prime district, prices fell 0.5 per cent, compared with a 1.1 per cent gain in the previous quarter. In the suburbs, prices dipped 0.1 per cent, compared with a 1.9 per cent jump in the previous quarter.

Prices in the city fringe or the rest of central region saw the strongest growth, gaining 2.6 per cent, compared with a 0.1 per cent rise in the previous quarter.

Sales of new non-landed homes, excluding executive condominiums, rose 19.7 per cent in the third quarter to 3,550 units, from 2,966 units in the second quarter.

This was despite an 8.8 per cent drop in new private homes launched in the third quarter to 2,149 units, from 2,356 units in the previous quarter.

Resale transactions edged up slightly in the third quarter. With 5,362 units sold, resale deals took up 59 per cent of total sales in the quarter.

As for the rental market, landlords were still able to command higher rents in recent months because of limited available stock and new home construction delays.

But overall, the growth in private home rents slowed slightly to 1.8 per cent in the third quarter, compared with a 2.9 per cent increase in the second quarter.

Rents of non-landed properties rose 1.4 per cent, compared with a 3.1 per cent increase in the previous quarter. Rents in the prime area grew 0.7 per cent, while those in the city fringe rose 1.6 per cent. Rents in the suburbs jumped 2.6 per cent.