SINGAPORE - Singapore private home prices fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous quarter, as the city-state plunged into its worst ever recession, government data showed on Friday.

The drop marked the third quarterly decline in residential property prices, following a 6.1 percent slide in the last
quarter of 2008 and a 2.4 percent fall in the quarter before that.

The decline in the first quarter was steeper than an initial estimate of a 13.8 percent plunge made earlier this
month.

Private residential rents fell 8.5 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, the data showed.