Trend: house prices up 7.93% y-o-y in Q3 2018

Singapore’s house price rises continue to accelerate, buoyed by strong demand. House prices rose by 7.93% during the year to Q3 2018, a sharp turnaround from a y-o-y decline of 0.52% in Q3 2017. Quarter-on-quarter, house prices increased 0.17% during the latest quarter. 

Analysis: demand and supply

In 2017, total home sales, which include new sales, sub-sales and resales, surged 52.7% y-o-y to 25,010 units, the biggest increase since 2009, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority. However in the first three quarters of 2018, total transactions fell slightly by 2.8% to 18,279 units compared to the same period last year. In Q3 2018, there were a total of 366,826 housing units available in Singapore, up by 1.9% from the same period last year, according to URA. Of which 341,721 units are occupied, while the remaining 25,105 units are available, making up a 6.8% vacancy rate (down from 7.1% in the previous quarter and 8.4% a year earlier).

Rents, rental yields: yields are poor in Singapore at 2.54%

Singapore apartment costs are high, at around $13,748 per sq. m. 

Singapore: city centre apartment, buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
	Buying price	Rate per month	Yield
Singapore	$1,649,760	$3,498	2.54%

Recent news.  Singapore’s economy grew by 2.6% y-o-y in Q3 2018, a deceleration from annual growth of 4.1% in Q2 2018 and 4.6% in Q1 2018, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). The economy expanded by 3.6% in 2017, faster than the 2.4% growth in 2016. The economy is expected to expand by 2.9% this year and another 2.5% in 2019.