Non-landed private home price growth slows, September resale prices hold flat

Resale prices of non-landed private homes held steady, with the overall resale price index in September remaining unchanged from the previous month.

Flash estimates from the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (NUS SRPI) revealed that the overall resale price index for non-landed private residential properties stood at 187.3 in September, unchanged from August.

Excluding small units, the resale price index for private homes in the Central Region declined by 0.6% month-on-month, while that in the Non-Central Region rose slightly by 0.4%. Meanwhile, the resale price index for small units dipped marginally by 0.1%.

The Institute also released the finalised figures for August. The revised overall resale price index dipped slightly by 0.2% month-on-month (compared to the flash estimate of no change). The Central Region and Non-Central Region registered declines of 0.5% (flash estimate: a 0.3% drop) and 0.1% (flash estimate: a 0.1% rise) respectively, while small units edged up by 0.1% (flash estimate: a 0.3% rise).

The NUS SRPI is based on a basket of transaction data representing local non-landed private homes, reflecting price trends for completed non-landed private residential properties.

Fewer Foreign Buyers and New Project Launches Cool Resale Market

Looking at the market performance over the past nine months, the pace of price growth in the private resale market has steadily narrowed.

In January this year, year-on-year resale price growth stood at 6.1%, which moderated to 4% in June, and narrowed further to 2.1% in September.

The softening pace of resale price appreciation is largely attributed to a decrease in foreign buyers, indicating that the government's property cooling measures—raising the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) for foreigners to 60%—have taken effect. Foreign buyers typically favour completed homes and predominantly purchase resale private properties. The significant drop in such buyers has led to a gradual cooling of the resale market.

Furthermore, developers rolled out new private residential projects in September, drawing buyers from the resale segment to the primary market, which also dampened the momentum of resale prices.

Following the conclusion of the seventh lunar month (Hungry Ghost Festival), new private residential projects were launched one after another. Many prospective buyers waited for new launch prices to be released before comparing them with resale prices, with some pivoting towards purchasing new launches instead.

With more new private homes slated for launch in October and November, coupled with easing mortgage rates, some buyers may lean towards new properties. The resale private home market is anticipated to remain stable over the next few months.