Home Prices Lowest Since January 2021

Private home prices have fallen to their lowest levels in more than a year, according to data published by the Rating and Valuation Department on Tuesday.

The price index for private flats fell to 382.1 in February.

That's a drop of more than 2 percent from the month before and 0.7 percent on year, and it's the lowest figure since January 2021.

Prices of flats under 431 square feet in size were down 2.7 percent compared with January and were at their lowest in almost two years.

For the first two months of the year taken together, private home prices fell 3 percent.

Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties, said the February figures did not fully reflect the worsening local Covid situation.

But he believes prices could rebound in the second quarter as the pandemic eases.

Private home rents, meanwhile, ended a four-month drop last month, rising 0.5 percent from January.