Private non-landed housing prices up 0.7% m-o-m in August: NUS SRPI flash estimate

The Singapore Residential Price Index grew 0.7% m-o-m in August (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - The Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies (IREUS) has, on Sept 28, released the Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) for the month of August. The SRPI tracks a basket of 759 non-landed private residential projects completed between October 2003 and September 2021.

Flash estimates of the SRPI, which measures price movements of private non-landed residential properties in Singapore, indicate that prices grew 0.7% m-o-m in August. This comes as overall consumer prices climbed 0.9% m-o-m last month, based on the Singapore Consumer Price Index.

The SRPI sub-index for the Central Region (excluding small units) grew by 0.8% m-o-m in August, while the sub-index for the non-Central Region (excluding small units) increased by 0.7% over the same period. The sub-index for small units increased by 0.3% for the period.

The revised overall index for July was adjusted to reflect a 1.1% m-o-m increase, slightly higher than the flash estimate that indicated the index grew 1%.

The sub-index for the Central Region (excluding small units) in July remained the same as its flash estimate showing an increase of 1.2% m-o-m. For the non-Central Region, the sub-index was adjusted to reflect a 1.1% decrease, a marginally higher increase compared to the flash estimate growth of 1% m-o-m. Meanwhile, the sub-index for small units in July was adjusted to reflect a 0.4% m-o-m increase, compared to its flash estimate of 0.2% growth.

Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, observes that the resale condo market benefited from the robust HDB market and lack of new project launches in August. “A record high of 54 HDB flats were sold for a million dollars or more which provides HDB upgraders the cash to buy a resale condo,” he adds.

In terms of buyer profile, Singaporeans accounted for 74.2% of resale transactions of non-landed private homes in the past 12 months. Singapore permanent residents represented 21.6% of such transactions, while foreigners made up about 3.9%.

In its report, IREUS pointed out that resale transactions of non-landed private homes fell 8.9% in August, compared to a growth of 1.8% in July. “Compared with the recent high in March this year, the number of non-landed private homes purchased by Singaporeans, Singapore residents and foreigners in the resale market fell by 25.6%, 35.7% and 76.7% respectively in August 2023,” the report adds.

“Moving forward, the robust HDB market may continue to support the resale condo market. New PRs and citizens may also contribute to the demand. However the cloudy economic outlook and high interest rates may temper price gains,” comments Yip.