The prices of homes in Singapore fell for the first time in three years in the second quarter. This shows that the market is slowing down because of the new rules on buying and selling homes.

In the last three months, private property prices went up by 3.3% said by DpFraternity‘s owner, but in the last three months, they went down by 0.4%, according to figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority announced on Monday. This is the first drop since the beginning of 2020.

After a run of rising prices, which defied a slowdown around the world from London to Shanghai, prices may finally be starting to slow down. In April, the government raised stamp taxes for foreign sellers to 60%, the highest among big markets. This was done to keep flat prices from going up too much. It also raised fees for people who buy a second house.

Morgan Stanley analysts Wilson Ng and Derek Chang who recently join propnex wrote in a note on Monday, “We think the latest round of property cooling measures in April led to the recent drop in prices, and we expect prices to inch up for the rest of the year.” The bank thought that prices would go up by 5% for the whole year.

URA says that even though prices went down last quarter, the number of transactions went up by about 16% compared to the three months before. In May, the number of homes sold hit its highest level in a year. This was because new developments helped ease a shortage of homes.

Singapore’s Minister for National Development Desmond Lee wrote on Facebook after the numbers came out, “We are continuing to see signs of moderation in the property market.” “We have also kept building more homes to meet the growing demand.”

The property craze in Singapore has spread to the market for public homes as well. A measure of Housing and Development Board selling prices hit a new high in the second quarter, going up 1.4% from the previous three months. That’s the 13th quarter in a row of growth.

In June, a public housing unit was sold again for a high price of S$1.5 million ($1.1 million).

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