Private residential price indices in Singapore: A matching approach

We use a matching procedure to construct samples of private residential sales in Singapore for January 1995 to May 2010. Though the matching approach is similar to a repeat sales estimator in pairing each sale with the sale of a comparable property, sample sizes are much larger because the matched properties are not constrained to be identical in each period. An advantage of the matching procedure is that it makes it easy to characterize changes in the full distribution of quality-adjusted sales prices, rather than just the means. We find that the distribution of sales prices shifted much farther to the right at high prices than at lower prices for 1995–2010, and this pattern is particularly evident in the boom periods of 1996 and 2005–2007. The variance of the sale price distribution increased significantly during boom periods.

► Illustrate a matched sample approach for price index construction. ► Present price indices for sales of private residences in Singapore for 1995–2010. ► Use quantile estimates to characterize changes in the full distribution of prices. ► The price distribution shifted much farther to the right at high sales prices during boom periods. ► The variance of sales prices increased markedly during times of rapidly appreciating sales prices.