THE stellar run of property prices and rentals last year slowed sharply in the fourth quarter, reflecting rising economic uncertainties and the effect of measures to cool the property market.
Private home prices rose by 6.8 per cent between October and December, down from the decade high of 8.3 per cent in the previous quarter.
Rentals for private homes also slowed, rising 6.8 per cent in the quarter, against 11.4 per cent the previous three months.
Latest figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday, also showed that sub-sales of private homes dropped to 513 during the quarter, about a third of the 1,474 between July to September.
For the whole of 2007, private home prices rose 31.2 per cent, with non-landed properties up 32.6 per cent. Properties in the core central region where the prime developments are located went up by 7.5 per cent in the last quarter, while those outside fetched 7.7 per cent more.
For the fourth quarter, prices of landed properties were up 4.2 per cent, against 7.5 per cent the previous quarter. For the whole year, prices for such properties went up by 23.4 per cent, with detached houses going by 5 per cent more, semi-detached (3.9 per cent) and terrace houses (3.5 per cent).
In an indication of the market cooling off, URA said prices for a number of uncompleted private residential projects in the suburban areas have come down to 'a more affordable level.'
"There are also a number of projects with a significant number of units that have not been sold yet," it noted.
Rentals also rose at a slower pace
In line with the slowdown, rentals of private residential properties rose 6.8 per cent, compared with the 11.4 per cent the previous quarter.
But for the whole year, the overall rentals soared by 41.2 per cent.
Nearly 65,000 uncompleted units in the pipeline
There were 64,852 uncompleted units of private housing units in the last three months of 2007, with more than half - 38,260 units - still usold.
These comprise 2,063 units that had been launched for sale by developers and 7,099 units which could be launched soon.
Of the supply in the pipeline, URA said 56,149 units are expected to be completed between this year and 2011, of which 29,722 are being built.
The number of private residential project launches also fell by more than half - only 1,686 units were launched in Q4 compared with 3,709 in the previous quarter.
It was the same story for offices. Prices rose 8 per cent in the fourth quarter, slightly lower than the 8.1 per cent previously.
Rentals for office space grew by 10.9 per cent, moderating the 14.8 per cent growth in the previous quarter.
Retail space also saw much smaller growth in rentals, which rose 0.6 per cent after rising 8.1 per cent in the third quarter.
For the whole of last year, private home prices rose an impressive 31.2 per cent, while rentals surged 41.2 per cent, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Office prices jumped 32.6 per cent in the year, with rentals shooting up 56.1 per cent.
As for shops, prices rose 13.2 per cent last year and rents, 18.2 per cent.
Values of industrial property went up 22.7 per cent, while rents rose 32 per cent.
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Private home prices, rentals moderate in Q4 
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