House prices up by 3.73% during the year to Q2 2022

Singapore’s housing market is showing signs of slowdown, amidst falling property demand. The nationwide real house prices rose by a modest 3.73% y-o-y in Q2 2022, lower than the prior year’s 4.62% growth. On a quarterly basis, house prices increased 1.58% during the latest quarter. 

Singapore’s house prices rose by almost 20% (inflation-adjusted) from 2016 to 2021, after falling by almost 10% in the three years prior.

Demand is now falling

In the first half of 2022, total home sales, which include new sales, sub-sales and resales, fell 26.6% y-o-y to 12,154 units, in sharp contrast to a huge 60.5% increase during 2021, according to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

There were a total of 385,529 housing units available in Singapore in Q2 2022, up 0.7% from the previous quarter, according to URA. Of which 364,764 units are occupied, while the remaining 20,765 units are available, making up a 5.4% vacancy rate, slightly up from 5.3% in the previous quarter.

Rents, rental yields: yields are poor in Singapore at 3.3%

Singapore apartment costs are high, at around $14,373 per sq. m. 

Recent news. Singapore’s economy grew by 4.4% y-o-y in Q2 2022, following annual expansions of 3.8% in Q1 2022 and 6.1% in Q4 2021, buoyed by strong manufacturing sector, as well as the construction and services sectors, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). Yet on a seasonally-adjusted quarterly basis, the economy contracted slightly by 0.2%, a reversal from the 0.8% growth in the first quarter.

The MTI expects the overall economy to grow by 3% to 4% this year, but uncertainty remains high due to persistent inflation, disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the continuing adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The economy grew strongly by 7.6% during 2021, a strong rebound from a 4.1% contraction in 2020.