The property market appears to be finally clawing its way out of what has been a lengthy rut. Declines in private home prices and rents slowed in the fourth quarter, and sales of new units picked up. The office and retail space segments, although still challenging, also offered some bright spots. While the numbers do not warrant popping the champagne, they point to improving market confidence. SLP Intl executive director Nicholas Mak told ST: “Things are less gloomy now compared with a few years ago, when there was a huge supply overhang. The fear was that prices and rents may collapse; that didn’t happen.” The optimism stems from data released by URA yesterday. It showed that overall private home prices saw the slowest rate of decline last year amid a three-year losing streak – down 3.1 per cent compared with drops of 3.7 per cent in 2015 and 4 per cent in 2014. The softer prices wooed buyers back last year, boosting new home sales to 7,972 units (excluding ECs), up from the 7,440 shifted in 2015.... Continue Reading