Private residential property prices fell 5.9 per cent in the second quarter from the previous quarter after plunging 14 per cent in the first quarter, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said yesterday.
Prices, which have fallen about 26 per cent since early last year, could plummet further as tens of thousands of new apartments become available over the coming months, said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, Asia-Pacific economic adviser for MasterCard in Singapore.
"I'm afraid prices will crash again," Hedrick-Wong said.
Singapore's gross domestic product fell a seasonally adjusted, annualised 14.6 per cent in the first quarter. The government expects the economy to shrink as much as 9 per cent this year.
Private property prices soared almost 50 per cent during 2006 and 2007 as a growing economy and the easy availability of credit fueled speculation, with new apartments sometimes changing hands many times before completion.
Prices of government-built housing, where more than 70 per cent of Singaporeans live, rose 1.2 per cent in the second quarter, making up for a 0.8 per cent drop in the first quarter, the authority said.
By AP
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