SINGAPORE, Jan 2 ― Singapore’s home prices dropped for a fifth consecutive quarter, the longest losing streak in more than a decade, as tighter mortgage curbs cooled demand in Asia’s second-most expensive housing market.

An index tracking private residential prices fell 1 per cent to 205.8 points in the three months ended December 31, the longest stretch of declines since March 2004 and bringing the slide to 4.9 per cent from the record high set in September 2013, according to preliminary data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority today.

Residential prices fell 4 per cent in 2014, the URA figures showed, the first year-on-year fall since 2008, as the government’s five-year campaign to rein in property values curbed demand. The drop is now more prolonged than during the global financial crisis, when prices slid for four consecutive quarters between the middle of 2008 and mid-2009.

“The decline in the last quarter was quite sharp,” said Alan Cheong, a Singapore-based director at real estate broker Savills Plc. He said home prices may fall another 3 per cent in 2015, while sales may remain at the low levels seen in 2014.

The government has imposed various curbs to cool the property market, including restrictions in June 2013 on the total loan amount for individuals. The measures prevent borrowers from taking on mortgages that push their total debt servicing costs above 60 per cent of income.

‘Meaningful correction’

Singapore is unlikely to ease curbs until “a meaningful correction” takes place, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said October 28, suggesting prices have further to decline.

Apartment prices fell 0.9 per cent in prime districts in the fourth quarter after sliding 0.8 per cent in the previous three months, today’s URA data showed. Those in the suburbs dropped 0.9 per cent, compared with a 0.3 per cent decline in the previous quarter. Prices in areas near prime districts slipped 1.2 per cent, more than the 0.4 per cent decrease in the previous quarter, the data showed.

Mortgage loan growth of 6.2 per cent in November was the slowest pace since May 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg based on MAS figures showed.

Developers sold 412 units in November, according to previously-released URA data, the fewest homes sold in any month last year. New private home sales may have fallen to about 7,500 units for all of last year, almost half the 14,948 units sold in 2013, according to Nicholas Mak, executive director at SLP International Property Consultants. ― Bloomberg