Singapore sees fastest growth in private home prices

Prices of private properties in Singapore jumped 34 percent, the fastest in the world for this year to June 30, and the country’s highest recorded year-on-year growth since 1995, according to a global survey of housing prices by the Global Property Guide.

Also included in the top 10 are Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan and Shanghai, China.

Among the reasons why Singapore was on the top of the list is that The Global Property Guide uses data from the URA, which is only dedicated to private properties. In Singapore, this comprises only 20 percent of homes, since 80 percent of people here live in public housing.

In addition, the report does not compare similar property types across countries, with the Global Property Guide saying 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 increasing housing prices in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China were driven by Asia’s strong economic growth, rising foreign demand and low interest rates, said the report.

Increasing prices have also prompted these countries to implement several measures.

Hong Kong saw a 21.42 percent increase in prices up to June 30; Taiwan recorded 11.51 percent growth; while Shanghai’s residential property prices were up 5.78 percent over the same period. Mainland China has seen price increases since mid-2009.