"Despite economic headwinds such as high interest rates and weak economic growth, as well as buyer's stamp duty (which applies to high-value properties), the continued rise in private residential prices reflects unwavering demand for housing," said Wong Xian Tang, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Cushman & Wakefield .

Nicholas Mak, independent property market observer, added that the acceleration in price growth reflected the market's resilience following the cooling measures announced in September 2022. "The revival of price growth momentum in private housing in 1Q2023 suggests that the latest round of cooling measures has not dampened the momentum of the residential property market," he said.

Prices for both landed and non-landed homes rose in the last quarter, achieving quarterly growth rates of 5.7 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively.

Tricia Song, CBRE's head of research for Southeast Asia, said the increase in landed residential prices was mainly due to the sale of the Pollen Collection by Bukit Sembawang in Serita Hills. Subscriptions for the project have doubled to eight units since its launch in October 2022. song added: "The median selling price of its row houses rose from S$1,893 per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2022 to S$2,199 per square foot in the first quarter of 2023."

Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, noted that detached home price growth accelerated, up from 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2022, supported by strong demand. "Homebuyers are firmly looking to buy this scarce form of housing in high-rise Singapore, knowing that a premium will need to be paid to acquire these homes from existing owners," he explained.

Non-landed residential prices also grew faster than the previous quarter, where prices increased by just 0.3 per cent. In the first quarter of 2023, price growth was mainly driven by the Regions Outside the Central Region (RCR), where prices increased by 4 per cent compared to the previous quarter, when they grew by 3.1 per cent. This growth was driven by the launch of new projects last quarter, including the 270-unit Terra Hill at Yew Shang Road, which set a price benchmark of S$2,650 per sq ft for the community during its launch weekend in February.

Prices in the OCR area increased by 1.9 per cent, reversing a 2.6 per cent decline in 4Q2022. The price increase was supported by The Residence at Sceneca in Tanah Merah and The Botany at Dairy Farm Walk, both of which reached S$2,072 and S$2,070 per square foot respectively.

In the Core Central Region (CCR), prices for non-landed homes increased by 1 per cent year-on-year, compared to a 0.7 per cent increase in the previous quarter. CBRE's Tricia Song observed, "We are seeing more interest in the launch of CCR projects as the price gap between CCR and OCR / RCR is narrowing."

Based on the sale and purchase agreements registered on April 3, CBRE's Song noted that in terms of overall sales volume, 1,178 new homes were sold in 1Q2023, compared to 690 in 4Q2022, an increase of 70.7 per cent, although Song admitted that these figures were still "significantly below" the historical average.

Lee Tze Teck, senior research director at Huttons Asia in Singapore, said the first quarter of 2023 saw more foreigners returning to the local residential market. According to deeds as at March 31, foreign buyers are expected to buy 127 of the 1,403 units in the new project. The most popular projects for foreigners in the first quarter of 2023 were Riviere (21 units), Klimt Cairnhill (20 units), Perfect Ten (10 units), Leedon Green (7 units), Pullman Residences Newton (7 units) and The Botany at Dairy Farm (5 units).

Looking ahead, CBRE's Minying Song believes that a more cautious buyer sentiment, triggered by high interest rates, tighter financing conditions and the economic slowdown, is likely to persist in the coming months. Nonetheless, she kept her forecast of new private home sales between 7,500 and 8,500 in 2023 unchanged, taking into account upcoming projects such as Tembusu Grand, The Continuum and Lentor Hill Residences, which are likely to drive demand. "The performance of these projects will provide a clearer indication of potential home-buying demand," she said.

Cushman & Wakefield's Wong Chi-yung expects private home prices to remain positive this year, albeit at a slower rate of around 3 to 5 per cent, compared to 8.6 per cent growth last year. He sees prices being supported by several factors, including a stable job market, continued demand for upgrades due to rising HDB resale prices, the reopening of China and low levels of unsold inventory.