Singapore's home prices rise 3.8% in Q4

Singapore
January 26, 2007, 12.40 pm (Singapore time)

Singapore's home prices rise 3.8% in Q4

SINGAPORE - Singapore home prices rose 3.8 per cent in the last three months of 2006, the 11th quarter in a row and the third year of successive gains, final figures from the Government's real estate planning agency showed on Friday.

The gains were strongest for private apartments in Singapore's prime districts which rose 4.9 per cent in the last three months of 2006 and 17 per cent in the whole year.

For the first time ever, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) provided a breakdown of property price changes by district, which showed that Singapore's real estate market recovery has been led largely by luxury developments in prime locations.

A few such developments have sold at prices last seen in 1996 but resale prices for public housing flats -- where 83 per cent of Singaporeans live -- have remained flat.

The overall price index for private homes rose to 130.2 points in the fourth quarter last year, from 125.4 points in the July-September period.

The fourth-quarter gain follows a 2.7 per cent increase in the July-September period. The index expanded by 10.2 per cent for the whole of 2006, compared to 3.9 per cent the previous year.

Reflecting the strong response to recent residential property launches by developers such as City Developments and CapitaLand, prices of uncompleted apartments rose 25.4 per cent for the whole of 2006. -- REUTERS

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Click here for the Urban Redevelopment Authority's press release