Private resale numbers fall in May

SINGAPORE — The private property resale market showed further signs of weakness last month, with a sharp drop in the number of homes changing hands.

However, prices remained fairly steady with only a small decrease, according to the data released today (June 9) by the Singapore Real Estate Exchange.

An estimated 421 resale transactions were registered last month, a 7.5 per cent decrease compared with the previous month, the data showed. On a year-on-year basis, resale volume posted a 42.6 per cent drop.

Sales volume has stayed below 500 units per month for the whole of 2014, with many potential buyers gravitating towards new properties as developers price launches competitively to drive interest in an otherwise torpid market.

Meanwhile, prices of resale homes stayed fairly steady, declining 0.3 per cent in May compared with the previous month.

On a regional basis, prices in the Core Central Region led the fall by dropping 2.9 per cent, followed by a 0.3 per cent drop in the Outside Central Region. However, prices in Rest of Central Region inched up by 0.6 per cent.