Eden was fully sold for $293 million, or at an average price of $4,827 psf.
Private home prices in Singapore have continued to move on an upward trend, rising 2.9% in Q1 2021, showed flash estimates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Thursday (1 April).
URA revealed that landed property prices increased 5.6% in Q1 2021, reversing the 1.6% drop posted in the previous quarter.
Non-landed property prices also increased 2.1% in Q1 2021, down from the 3% hike registered in Q4 2020.
The hike was driven by the Rest of Central Region (RCR) which saw non-landed private home prices grow 6.1%, compared to a 4.4% increase in the previous quarter.
The Outside Central Region (OCR) saw prices increase 0.9%, down from Q4 2020’s 1.8% hike.
The Core Central Region (CCR), on the other hand, posted a 3.2% drop in prices, reversing the 3.2% increase seen in the previous quarter.
Lee Sze Teck, Director of Research at Huttons Asia, said the final tally for the private home market may see a higher price increase once figures for March are in.
One of the new launches in March, Midtown Modern sold over 60% of its available units, he noted. Eden was also fully sold at an average price of $4,827 per sq ft (psf), while the Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market registered a record sale within the Nassim area at $4,005 psf just days ago.
With this, he noted that chances of cooling measures have been “raised by a notch as the government looks to keep prices in check”.
Lee believes first time home buyers will be unaffected “as past measures have targeted investors and foreign buyers”.
“Wealth taxes in the form of Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) may take centre stage and Singapore will be one of the first few countries in the region to tax the rich,” he said.
“Another possible measure is the tightening of Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) for investors and foreign buyers while keeping it unchanged for first time home buyers,” he added.
Looking ahead, OrangeTee & Tie’s Senior Vice-President of Research and Analytics Christine Sun expects the rock-bottom interest rates to mitigate the impact of property price hikes, helping keep mortgages affordable for borrowers.
“Despite the improving economic outlook and expectations of higher inflation, interest rate hikes are unlikely to occur in the near term,” she said.
“The lower interest rates may continue to draw new buyers to the property market.”
Meanwhile, URA said it will release its full set of real estate statistics for Q1 2021 on 23 April.
“Past data have shown that the difference between the quarterly price changes indicated by the flash estimate and the actual price changes could be significant when the change is small,” it said.
“The public is advised to interpret the flash estimates with caution.”
Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this story, email: victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
