Despite the cooling measures, property prices continue to increase (Image courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board).

With the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) releasing its figures about the price of Singapore property recently, now seems a good time to look back at a year where the Singapore government took unprecedented measures to attempt to cool the Singapore property market.

COV down

Cash-over-valuation (COV) for resale Housing Development Board (HDB) units — the amount that home owners often ask for above the official valuation of their property –- is falling from its 4Q 2010 average of $23,000, indicating that the Singapore government’s cooling measures may be beginning to take effect.

Prices on the Increase

However, figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) — Singapore’s national land use planning authority — show that overall prices of private residential properties increased by 2.7% in 4Q 2010, compared with the 2.9% increase in the previous quarter. In fact, for the whole of 2010, prices had increased by 17.6%, compared with the 1.8% rise in 2009. Worrying news, given that two sets of cooling measures were introduced in 2010 with the sole aim of reducing further property speculation that was pushing up process.

Private Property

The URA’s figures also revealed that prices of non-landed properties increased by 1.8% in 4th Quarter 2010, compared with the 1.6% increase in the previous quarter. For the year 2010 as a whole, prices of non-landed properties increased by 14.0% — a massive increase that may indicate the first forming of a property bubble. Overall, in 4Q 2010, prices of apartments increased by 2.4%, while prices of condominiums increased by 1.6%.

Rental

There is mixed news for the rental market. While some expected the proviso in the recent cooling measures relating to the non-ownership of private property in Singapore or abroad by HDB-home owners to bring rental prices down, the figures beg to differ. Rentals of private residential properties increased by 2.6% in 4th Quarter 2010, report URA, compared with the 3.6% increase in the previous quarter. Rental prices saw a massive hike for the year 2010 as a whole, with rentals of private residential properties rising by 17.9%.