Vacancy rates for private non-landed homes across the island inched down from 10.4% in 2Q2016 to 10% in 3Q2016. However, the decline in rents for non-landed homes accelerated to 1.4%, compared to a 0.4% decline in 2Q2016. The mass-market segment, or Outside Central Region, led the decline as rents fell 2.4% q-o-q in 3Q. Meanwhile, rents for private non-landed homes fell 1.4% in the high-end segment, or Core Central Region, and 0.6% in the city fringe, or Rest of Central Region.

Separately, private home prices fell 1.5% q-o-q in 3Q2016, based on data released by the URA today. Prices have fallen 10.8% from the peak in 3Q2013 to 3Q2016, over 12 consecutive quarters of decline.

Prices of private non-landed homes fell 1.2%, compared to a 0.1% decline in the previous quarter. All market segments saw a decline in prices. In the Core Central Region (CCR), prices fell 1.9%, compared to a 0.3% uptick in the previous quarter. Prices in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR) both fell 1.0%, compared to a 0.2% uptick in the RCR and a 0.5% decline in the OCR in the previous quarter.

ERA Realty's key executive officer, Eugene Lim, attributes the decline to the recent spate of negative news on Singapore’s economy, which may have caused buyers to be more cautious when spending, especially on a bigger ticket items like property.

Developers sold 1,981 private residential units (excluding executive condominiums) in 3Q2016, compared to 2,256 units in 2Q2016 and 2,410 units in 3Q2015. The number of resale transactions rose 15.7% q-o-q and 53.0% y-o-y to 2,477 in 3Q2016, from 2,140 in 2Q2016 and 1,619 in 3Q2015.

As at end-3Q2016, there are a total of 43,693 uncompleted private homes (excluding ECs) in the pipeline. Out of this total, there are 20,577 unsold units. In the EC segment, the pipeline supply stands at 11,054 units and 4,634 units remain unsold.

ERA's Lim expects fall in prices to range from 3% to 4% for the entire 2016, should the negative sentiment persist.

In the public housing front, HDB resale prices remained unchanged for the second straight quarter in 3Q2016. On a y-o-y basis, overall resale prices went up 0.1%. The number of resale transactions fell 5.5% from 5,838 cases in 2Q2016 to 5,514 cases in 3Q2016.

On y-o-y basis, the median price for four-room HDB flats rose the highest in Toa Payoh (by $77,000), Punggol (by $35,000), Bishan (by $23,500), Clementi (by $23,400) and Jurong East (by $19,000).

Edmund Tie & Company's Southeast Asia Head of Research, Lee Nai Jia, concurs that the HDB market is showing signs of stabilizing as the price gap between buyers and sellers narrow. "Barring unforeseen economic shocks, the secondary market ought to be entering a new state of equilibrium."

In the rental market, the number of subletting approvals declined 8.8% from 11,824 cases in 2Q2016 to 10,789 cases in 3Q2016. As at September 30, 52,394 HDB flats were sublet, up 0.4% from 52,171 units in 2Q2016.

In November, HDB will offer about 5,090 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in Bedok, Bidadari, Kallang/Whampoa and Punggol. On top of that, about 5,000 flats will be offered in a concurrent Sale of Balance Flats exercise.

Edmund Tie & Company expects public homes in the central area to command high prices, unless policies – aimed at protecting the objectives of public housing – are enacted.