Singapore’s private home prices continue to rise, with a 1.5 per cent increase after a 28% growth in the last three months in 2023, according government data released on Monday.

The prices continued to increase despite a decline of 20 per cent in the sales volume for the third quarter. This is due to market resilience.

As a result of committed land costs and construction costs, it is expected that private home prices will remain elevated in the new market.

However, the prices are beginning to stabilize ahead of an anticipated influx of 10,000 private residences in 2024.

As economic conditions remain uncertain, buyers are becoming increasingly selective. Prices of private homes have increased by an average of 34.5 percent from Q1 2020.

This year, the news of mass layoffs at companies around the globe could have been a factor in lowering consumer confidence.

Urban Redevelopment Authority latest data indicates that landed house prices increased by 3,4% in the 1st quarter after rising by 4,6% in the 4th.

Prices continue to be supported by local upgrading, limited supply, and increased construction cost.

Prices for non-landed housing increased by 1% in Q1 on the whole, which is a moderated increase from the previous quarterly rise of 2.3%.

The Core Central Region, or CCR, was primarily responsible for driving the price rise. Prices rose 3.1 per cent after a 3.9-percent increase in the fourth.

The top non-landed transactions in CCR include resale sales of two units, each fetching S$16.5million – S$5,397per square foot.

Cuscaden Reserve – which was relaunched Mar 16 – may also contribute a small increase in CCR’s price index. The project has so sold 80 units for an average price just above S$3,000.

In the Outside Central Region suburban area (OCR), prices for non’landed homes rose at a slower speed of 0.4 percent in Q1, compared to a 4.5% increase in Q4.

Strong sales at Lentor Mansion will likely push prices up in the OCR.

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URA caveats say that, according to its mid-March release, 402 of the Lentor units were sold for an average price per square foot of S$2,278. This is the best performance of any new launch this year.

Non-landed property price in the city edge or Rest of Central Region recovered from 0.8% declines in Q4 of 2023. They increased by 0.20% in Q1.

Prices have stabilised, particularly in RCRs and OCRs. For example, new sales hover around S$2,500 and resale around S$1,700 for RCRs, and S$2,200psf or S$1,400psf respectively for OCRs.

It is possible that the market will plateau in certain segments due to the fact that demand will become more regulated with an increase in new supply.

In Q1 of 2024, Singaporeans accounted for 986.6% of the private homebuyers; foreigners represented only 1.1%. In Q1, 35 foreigners purchased residential homes. That’s down from 66 buyers in Q4.

The total transaction volume for Q1 fell by 20% from 4,334 to 3,482 and was 16% lower than last quarter.

The trend of decreasing transaction volume continues. Total yearly transaction volume is already the lowest for 2023.

The tally of transaction volume includes sales for new units, resales/subsales as well subsales. However, it excludes executive condos.

In the current economic climate, home buyers are more hesitant to commit to buying a house due to several factors. These include looming financial uncertainty, increasing numbers of layoffs and higher interest rates.

Others defer home purchases in hopes of better deals when interest rates drop in 2024’s second half.

URA’s figures will be updated on Apr 26 when it releases the full set of data for Q1 in its property market.