SINGAPORE – Private home prices in Singapore rose for a fourth straight quarter, jumping 2.9 per cent in the first three months of this year, raising bets on a fresh round of cooling measures.

This is the steepest quarterly increase since the second quarter of 2018 when private residential prices rose by 3.4 per cent before property curbs hit in July that year.

It follows an increase of 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter last year and 0.8 per cent in the third quarter, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) flash estimate released on Thursday morning (April 1).

A persistently strong increase in private home prices over the next few quarters will raise the prospect of more cooling measures being rolled out, analysts said.

Other factors that may be considered include whether housing price increases are outpacing the economic recovery, and whether they are occuring across the board or remain localised in certain areas.

URA’s latest data showed prices of non-landed properties rose 2.1 per cent in the first quarter after edging up 3 per cent in the prior quarter.

By region, apartments in the city fringe or rest of the central region (RCR) enjoyed the biggest rise, with prices jumping 6.1 per cent quarter on quarter, compared to 4.4 per cent in the previous three months.

In the core central region (CCR), or prime areas, prices dipped 0.3 per cent in Q4, reversing from a 3.2 per cent increase in the fourth quarter.

In the suburbs or outside central region (OCR), prices were up 0.9 per cent, after a 1.8 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the prices of landed properties climbed 5.6 per cent in the first quarter, reversing from a 1.6 per cent fall in the previous quarter.

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment, and data on units sold by developers up till mid-December. The statistics will be updated on April 23 when the URA releases its full set of real estate statistics for the first quarter.