Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Private residential property prices in Singapore rose 5% q-o-q in 4Q2021, compared to 1.1% in the previous quarter, according to data released by the URA on Jan 28. This marks a seventh consecutive quarter of growth and the steepest rate of quarterly growth since 2Q2010.
Read also: Singapore residential prices rise 3.3% in 1Q2021: URA
On a full-year basis, prices jumped 10.6%, the highest annual growth recorded since 2010 when prices climbed 17.6%.
The figures remain unchanged from URA’s flash estimates released on Jan 4.
According to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons Asia, the 4Q2021 numbers do not reflect the latest round of property market cooling measures that took effect on Dec 16 last year, given the year-end festivities. “The strong price gains are in line with trends seen globally where property markets staged a remarkable recovery from 2020,” he remarks.
Prices for non-landed properties increased 5.3% q-o-q in 4Q2021, higher than the 0.7% increase observed in the previous quarter. Prices rose across all regions, led by Rest of Central Region (RCR) (+6.7%), followed by Outside Central Region (OCR) (+5.7%) and Core Central Region (CCR) (+2.7%).
For the whole of 2021, prices of non-landed properties rose 9.8%, with prices in RCR, OCR and CCR increasing by 16.3%, 8.8%, and 3.8% respectively.
According to Wong Xian Yan, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of research, the outperformance of RCR prices was driven by the strong take-up rates for a slew of new launches. “RCR total sales volumes saw a higher proportion of new sales, at 50% of total sales. This compares to CCR and OCR of which only 39% and 31%, respectively, of total sales were new sales,” Wong says.
Meanwhile, the landed segment saw a rise of 3.9% q-o-q in 4Q2021, higher than the 2.6% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
For the whole of 2021, prices of landed properties surged 13.3%, which is the highest price hike since 2010, when prices surged a whopping 30.8%
The better performance comes on the back of a solid take-up of landed properties and a thriving Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market. According to Huttons’ Lee, an estimated 93 transactions took place in 2021, the best showing since 2010, with a total value of $2.8 billion.
“The average deal size for a bungalow in the GCB area was $30.2 million in 2021. This has surpassed the previous high of $24.5 million in 2018,” he says.
A total of 7,925 private homes excluding executive condominiums (ECs) were sold in 4Q2021, compared to 9,083 units in 3Q2021.
This brings total units excluding ECs transacted for the whole of 2021 to 33,557 units. Of the transactions, 13,027 units were for new homes, up 30.5% y-o-y and representing the highest annual sales booked since 14,948 units were shifted in 2013.
Meanwhile, 19,962 units transacted were for resale homes — the highest resale numbers since 2007’s 20,980 units.
Lam Chern Woon, head of research & consulting at Edmund Tie, notes the robust sales performance came on the back of a decline in total units launched for 2021 at 10,496 units from 10,883 units in 2020.
Looking ahead, volumes could ease in the upcoming quarters in response to the cooling measures before subsequently recovering.
Huttons’ Lee anticipates that the overall new home market may see sales between 8,000 and 9,000 units in 2022, while prices may move up to 3% on the back of higher construction costs.
PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying is forecasting price growth between 3% and 5% in 2022. “Looking at 1Q2022, we anticipate both home sales and price movement to be muted, given the limited new launches and the Chinese New Year festivities,” she adds. (Browse newly launched condos in Singapore right now)
Cushman & Wakefield’s Wong takes a more conservative stance, projecting prices to grow by about 1% to 2% in 2022.