By Jessica Cheam

PRIVATE home prices shot up by 7.4 per cent in last three months of 2009 as the property market made a quick recovery from a nightmarish start to the year.

This followed the previous quarter's increase of 15.8 per cent - a turnaround from a contraction of 18 per cent in the first half of 2009.

Official data by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Friday showed prices of private residential properties for 2009 as a whole increased by 1.8 per cent.

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