Singapore Q3 private property prices up 0.4%

Singapore\'s private home prices rose by 0.4 percent during the third quarter, easing from the quarterly rise of 1.0 percent in the second quarter and unchanged from the flash estimate earlier this month, the city-state\'s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday. Prices of non-land properties in the core central region declined by 0.3 percent, following the 0.2 percent decrease in the previous quarter. In the rest of central region, private property prices also decreased by 0.9 percent, slightly lower than earlier estimate of 1.1 percent. This is the first decrease recorded in the region since Q1 of 2012. The mass market segment that outside central region still saw prices up. The prices there rose by 2.2 percent, which was lower than the 3.8 percent increase in the previous quarter. The URA added that rentals of private residential properties increased by 0.2 percent in Q3, which was lower than the 0.3 percent increase in the previous quarter. The city-state has been trying to cool its housing market during recent years. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the central bank, introduced a framework to cap the total debt servicing ratio of property loans to 60 percent of income. On the supply side, the URA said there will be about 107,400 private homes and executive condominium units in the pipeline, many of which are expected to be completed in the next three to four years.