Singapore private home prices up 2.7% in Q4

Overall home prices grew by 6.7% in full-year 2023.

Singapore residential property prices continued to climb in Q4 2023, with private home prices rising at a faster pace quarter-on-quarter – propped up by transactions at new launches. 

Meanwhile, according to PropNex, the price growth momentum in the public housing resale market eased further during the quarter, amidst growing price resistance and cautious sentiment among buyers. The flash estimates tracked transactions up till mid-December; the final print for the entire Q4 2023 will be published on 26 January 2024.

Here’s more from PropNex:

Flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that overall private home prices rose by 2.7% QOQ in Q4 2023, accelerating from the 0.8% QOQ increase in the previous quarter. Cumulatively, overall private home prices have risen by 6.7% in 2023 – moderating from the 8.6% price growth in 2022. 

In the landed homes segment, prices staged a swift recovery in Q4 2023, growing by 4.5% QOQ – overturning the 3.6% QOQ decline in the previous quarter. This is the strongest quarter of price growth since Q1 2023 where landed home values rose by 5.9% QOQ. The price increase could be supported by the slight rise in detached house transactions which rose from 39 units in Q3 to 43 units in Q4 2023, according to URA Realis caveat data. The average price of detached house which rose by about 16% QOQ to $1,714 psf on land area in Q4 could have mitigated the weaker prices in the semi-detached and terrace house segments. The price growth in Q4 takes the overall landed home price increase to 7.8% in 2023 - down from 9.6% in 2022.

Meanwhile, the non-landed homes segment saw a 2.2% QOQ price growth in Q4 2023, following a similar 2.2% increase in the previous quarter. The strengthening in non-landed home prices came about as new project launches in the Core Central Region (CCR) and Outside Central Region (OCR) helped to spur price growth. 

In Q4 2023, non-landed home prices in the OCR jumped by 4.6% QOQ, building on the 5.5% QOQ growth in Q3 2023. New project launches in the quarter, J’den and Hillock Green have contributed to pushing mass-market prices higher, particularly J’den which has set a new benchmark price not only in Jurong East, but also for new launches in the OCR. J’den was the best-selling new private residential project in Q4 2023, moving 327 units at an average price of $2,475 psf. In 2023, OCR home prices booked a healthy 13.8% growth, compared with the 9.3% increase in 2022, according to the flash estimates.

Non-landed prices in the CCR climbed by 4.2% QOQ, reversing the 2.7% QOQ decline in the previous quarter. This is the largest quarterly price growth in the CCR since Q1 2018, where prices increased by 5.5% QOQ. Prices of homes in the CCR were propped up by new launch project Watten House which sold 114 units in Q4 2023 at an average price of $3,209 psf. In addition, caveat data also showed that some projects achieved higher average unit prices QOQ in Q4 2023 - they included Klimt Cairnhill which transacted 13 units at an average price of $3,509 psf, and Midtown Modern which sold 13 units with prices averaging at $3,098 psf. 

Over in the Rest of Central Region (RCR), non-landed home prices dipped by 1.2% QOQ in Q4, compared with the 2.1% QOQ increase in the previous quarter. The lack of fresh project launches in the RCR in Q4 2023 likely stymied price growth in this sub-market. The top-selling project in the new sales segment in Q4 was The Reserve Residences, which saw 40 units changed hands at an average price of $2,444 psf. RCR non-landed home prices rose by 2.7% in 2023 – easing from the 9.7% growth in 2022. 

The URA said 3,800 private homes (up till mid-December) have been sold in Q4 2023, compared with 5,201 units in the previous quarter. It added that sales transaction volume (up to mid-December) came up to 18,510 in 2023 versus 21,890 in 2022.

 Based on caveats lodged and URA figures, PropNex estimates that developers sold about 6,400 new private homes (ex. EC) in the year-to-24 December period, and new home sales will underperform the 7,099 new homes (ex. EC) sold in the full-year 2022. Meanwhile, some 10,850 resale private homes (ex. EC) have been sold over the same period – private resale volume is also expected to come in below the 14,026 units resold in 2022.