Surprisingly, Singapore’s residential property prices continue to rise strongly, despite falling demand. In the first quarter of 2023, the private residential property index increased by 11.4% compared to a year earlier, following y-o-y rises of 8.6% in Q4 2022, 13.6% in Q3, 10.6% in Q2 and 7.8% in Q1, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

When adjusted for inflation, prices were up by 5.6% y-o-y in Q1 2023. During Q1 2023, residential property prices increased by a modest 3.3% (2.0% when inflation-adjusted).

Residential property prices in Singapore rose by a cumulative 37.5% (22.2% inflation-adjusted) from 2016 to 2022, after falling by about 8% (7% inflation-adjusted) in the three years prior.

However, demand is now falling rapidly, amidst the introduction of new rounds of market-cooling measures. During 2022, total home sales, which include new sales, sub-sales, and resales, plunged by 34.8% year-on-year to 21,890 units, in sharp contrast to a huge 60.5% increase in 2021, according to URA figures.

The weakness of the market continued this year, with total home sales dropping by a huge 22.9% to 4,121 units in Q1 2023, compared to a year earlier. Demand is expected to continue falling during the remainder of this year.