According to the latest quarterly flash estimates by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), prices rose 5.1% for Q1 2010, compared with the 7.4% increase in the previous quarter. The price index of private residential property rose from 165.7 points in Q4 2009 to 174.2 points in Q1 2010.

Li Hiaw Ho, Executive Director, CBRE Research commented,”  At 174.2 points, the Q1 2010 residential price index is only 3.3 points below the last peak of 177.5 points in Q2 2008, and 7.2 points below the market peak of 181.4 points in Q2 1996. In all, the residential price index has recovered by a total of 30.7 per cent since it bottomed out in the second quarter of 2009.”

PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail also noted that the current price index for private property is still short of the 1996 peak. However, he said, “I am confident that the private property price index will best that by the end of 2010. And this will be easily achieved with our projected overall growth of about 4–5% per quarter for the rest of 2010.”

 Li continued,” According to URA, prices of non-landed private homes in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) showed the highest increase of 7.2%, followed by 4.5% in the Core Central Region (CCR) and 3.9% in Outside Central region (OCR). The main contributors to this price increase would be the new projects launched in the first quarter that enjoyed a strong take-up. These included Cube 8, Altez, The Laurels, The Vision and 76 @ Shenton. The increase could also be attributed to resale transactions, especially those in the locations where there were new launches. For example, in district 15, new projects such as The Shore Residences, Silversea and Coralis which are priced around $1,100-$1,500 psf have boosted the resale prices of units in the Amber Road, Meyer Road and Tanjong Rhu areas.”

”Going forward, both the momentum of take-up of new homes and price growth will likely continue in the second quarter, especially so with the expected launches of sizeable projects at Dakota Crescent, Serangoon Avenue 3 and Chestnut Avenue. Positive sentiment, a recovering economy and a low interest rate environment all combine to support a favourable home-buying market. Nevertheless, with four residential sites put up for sale by the government in April and May, and more envisaged to come in the rest of the year, there will be no shortage of supply in the longer term. As supply begins to catch up with demand, price increases may assume a more moderate level in the second half of the year,” predicted Li.