SINGAPORE private residential sales recovered in March from February after prices fell in response to the fewest transactions in at least nine months.

Developers sold 301 homes in March, up from 170 in February, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed on Tuesday. Prices fell in all areas except for the central, prime districts, analysts said.

"Although the volume of transactions island-wide has improved, prices in general remain weak," Chua Yang Liang, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc's head of Southeast Asia research, told Bloomberg News. "Only the central, core region has shown improvement. Prices for homes outside the core region showed a continued drop of 9 percent month on month to S$648 (US$477) per square foot in March from S$712 per square foot in February."

Singapore's home sales in the first quarter of the year totaled 787, about half of the 1,449 units sold in the previous three months, the authority's data showed. Prices may continue to fall as prospective buyers await the effects of a US economic slowdown.