Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) yesterday published the Sultanate’s Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. In Q2 2023, the RPPI was at 92.6, showing a decrease of 0.54 per cent year-on-year compared to Q2 2022, and a decrease of 4.08 per cent quarter-on-quarter compared to first quarter (Q1) of 2023. Based on mortgage data obtained from banks, there were 129 transactions for private residential properties in Q2 2023, indicating an increase of 5.74 per cent in the number of transactions compared to Q1 2023 and a decrease of 0.77 per cent compared to a year ago. For Q2 2023, the majority of these transactions were for detached houses (50.4 per cent); followed by terrace houses (25.6 per cent); semi-detached houses (20.9 per cent) :apartments (2.3 per cent): and land (0.8 per cent).
The overall median purchase price for all types of private residential properties was BND252,000 in Q2 2023, an increase of one per cent compared to Q2 2022 and an increase of 0.4 per cent compared to Q1 2023. The median purchase prices for specific types of properties were BND300,000 for detached houses; BND258,000 for semi-detached houses; BND200,000 for terrace houses; BND260,000 for apartments; and BND165,000 for land.
The median price is widely used compared to the average or mean price in RPPI compilation as it is less influenced by a small number of unusually-priced properties within the house price distribution. In terms of location, the majority of properties purchased in Q2 2023 were located in the Brunei-Muara District (108 properties), followed by Belait District (12 properties), Tutong District (eight properties) and Temburong District (one property). In addition to this, the top five mukims that recorded the most purchases of private residential properties in Q2 2023 were Sengkurong, Kilanas, Gadong, Mentiri and Berakas ‘B’.
The index is compiled using data sourced from the banks in Brunei and is published with cooperation from the Ministry of Development, in particular the Authority for Building Control and Construction Industry (ABCI). RPPI measures the rate at which the prices of private residential properties purchased by households are changing over time.
