Private home prices declined in the first quarter of the year compared with the previous three months, flash estimates showed on Wednesday (April 1). But analysts say they do not expect prices to fall sharply in the coming months despite the economic slump brought about by Covid-19.

This is because the job market is still holding up, and there is also the Resilience Budget as well as new relief measures assisting homeowners with their mortgages.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said flash estimates for the first quarter showed that prices of new and resale private homes fell 1.2 per cent from the final quarter of last year.

Already, this is a bigger drop than the 0.7-per cent contraction seen in the six months after the Government announced property cooling measures in July 2018, noted Mr Nicholas Mak, who heads the research and consultancy  department at ERA Realty.

Adapted from Today Online 2 Apr 2020