Singapore non-landed private home prices jump 5.3% in Q4; overall rents up 2.6%

Singapore non-landed private home prices jump 5.3% in Q4; overall rents up 2.6%

Jan 28, 2022

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday (Jan 28) that its private home price index rose 5 per cent quarter on quarter in Q4 2021, and climbed 10.6 per cent for the whole of last year.

These are unchanged from the flash estimates put out on Jan 3. Analysts had said then that the Q4 figure represented the largest quarterly increase since Q2 2010, while the full-year number marked the highest annual growth since 2010.

Landed properties' prices gained 3.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, steeper than the 2.6 per cent increase in the third quarter, URA's final figures showed. They jumped 13.3 per cent for the whole year.

As for non-landed homes, prices rose 5.3 per cent in the final quarter of last year, speeding up from the 0.7 per cent growth in the preceding 3 months. They surged 9.8 per cent in 2021.

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Giving a breakdown by region, URA said that non-landed homes in the core central region (CCR) or prime areas saw prices moving up by 2.7 per cent in Q4, contrasting with the 0.5 per cent drop in Q3.

In the rest of central region (RCR) or city fringe, non-landed properties became 6.7 per cent pricier, accelerating from the 2.6 per cent growth in the previous quarter.

And the outside central region (OCR) or suburbs posted a 5.7 per cent increase in non-landed homes' prices for Q4, after inching down by 0.1 per cent in the prior quarter.

For the full year, prices of non-landed residential properties clocked increases of 3.8 per cent in the CCR, 16.3 per cent in the RCR and 8.8 per cent in the OCR.

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In the rental market, overall rents of private homes were up 2.6 per cent in Q4, steeper than the 1.8 per cent rise in Q3. They gained 9.9 per cent for the whole of last year, reversing from the 0.6 per cent decrease in 2020, URA said.

Landed homes' rents edged up by 1.2 per cent in the last quarter, slowing from the 4.7 per cent growth in the third quarter, and rose 8.2 per cent in 2021.

Non-landed homes' rents moved up by 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter, quicker than the 1.4 per cent increase in the previous 3 months, and soared 9.9 per cent for the whole year.

By region, Q4 rents of non-landed residential properties rose across the board, increasing by 2.9 per cent in the CCR, 2.8 per cent in the RCR and 2.4 per cent in the OCR.

The full-year rental growth for non-landed homes stood at 9.8 per cent in the CCR, 9.5 per cent in the RCR and 11.1 per cent in the OCR.

Developers launched 2,275 uncompleted private residential units - excluding executive condominiums (ECs), a public-private housing hybrid - for sale in the October-December period last year, a tad more than the 2,149 units in the July-September quarter.

In 2021, developers put 10,496 uncompleted units on the market, fewer than the 10,883 units launched in 2020.

As for the take-up rate, developers in Q4 sold 3,018 private residential units, excluding ECs. That is fewer than the 3,550 units moved in Q3. For the whole of last year, 13,027 private homes were sold, improving from the 9,982 units in 2020.

No EC units were launched for sale in the final quarter of 2021, though developers sold 260 EC units during the period. The previous quarter had been livelier, with 496 EC units launched and 717 sold.

For the whole of 2021, developers put on the market 1,609 EC units and moved 2,119, more than the 1,044 EC units launched and 958 sold in the previous year.

Supply in the pipeline continued to shrink. As at the end of December, there were 46,276 uncompleted private homes, excluding ECs, in the pipeline with planning approvals, fewer than the 47,715 units at the end of September.

Of this number, 14,154 units remained unsold by the end of December, compared with the 17,140 unsold homes in the previous quarter.

URA said that 11,247 units, including ECs, will be completed in 2022, based on the expected completion dates reported by developers. Another 19,840 units, including ECs, are slated for completion in 2023.

The authority added that there is a potential supply of about 6,900 private residential units, including ECs, from government land sales (GLS) sites that have not been granted planning approval yet. These are on top of the 16,139 unsold units, including ECs, with planning approval as at end-December 2021.