S'pore home prices up the most

Private home prices has increased by 34 per cent, said the Global Property Guide.

Sat, Aug 28, 2010
AsiaOne

Singapore private property prices has increased by 34 per cent, claimed a global survey of house prices conducted by the Global Property Guide.

This is the fastest in the world for the year 2010 to June 30, and also the highest recorded year-on-year increase in the country since 1995, according to Global Property Guide.

Hong Kong, Australia and Taiwan took the next three positions. Also in the top 10 is Shanghai, China.

One of the reasons Singapore topped the list of fastest rising house prices is that The Global Property Guide uses data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is only for private homes.

In Singapore, this includes only the top 20 per cent of the homes in Singapore, as 80 per cent of the population here live in public housing.

The report also does not compare the same property types across countries, it says on its website that they "are interested in the sort of properties which will be attractive to foreign renters. This is not always the same type of property in all locations".

The report said Asia's strong economic growth, low interest rates and rising foreign demand fuelled rising house prices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.

Sky-rocketing prices have already prompted some action on the parts of the government in these countries.

Prices in Hong Kong increased 21.42 per cent up to June 30, Taiwan's house prices were up 11.51 per cent and residential property prices in Shanghai, China rose 5.78 per cent  over the same period. China has reported strong price rises since mid-2009.

Within South East Asia, property prices in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines fell.