SINGAPORE, Oct 1 — Singapore home prices dropped for an eighth quarter, matching the longest losing streak in 13 years, as tighter mortgage curbs cooled demand in Asia’s second-most expensive housing market.

An index tracking private residential prices fell 1.3 per cent in the three months ended Sept. 30 from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority today. The slump was the most since June 2009, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

The government began introducing residential property curbs in 2009 as low interest rates and demand from foreign buyers raised concerns that the market was overheating. They have included a cap on debt repayment costs at 60 per cent of a borrower’s monthly income, higher stamp duties on home purchases and an increase in real estate taxes.

Apartment prices fell 1.3 per cent in prime districts in the third quarter, the data showed. Those in the suburbs dropped 1.6 per cent. Prices in areas near prime districts slipped 1.5 per cent.

The deterioration in economic sentiment, worsening supply‐demand imbalance and rising vacancy rates, risk precipitating a downward spiraling of property prices, Augustine Tan, president of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore said last month. The property cooling measures, in the current tone and intensity, could increase the risk to the real estate market and economy, he said. 

Prices fell about 4 per cent last year, the first year-on-year decline since 2008, as the government’s campaign to rein in property values curbed demand. — Bloomberg