HDB resale prices rise as sales fall: SRX Property

SINGAPORE — Resale prices of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats inched up 0.2 per cent in November compared to a month ago, but transaction volume fell 5.3 per cent, flash estimates from SRX Property showed yesterday.

Resale prices of three-room and four-room flats rose by 0.2 per cent, while prices of five-room units increased by 0.3 per cent. In contrast, the resale prices of executive flats fell by 0.3 per cent.

Year-on-year, prices were down 0.7 per cent.

Resale flats in mature estates went up 0.8 per cent, while those in non-mature estates dipped 0.3 per cent in November, compared to October.

Last month saw 1,585 resale flats changing hands, a 5.3 per cent dip from the 1,673 units resold in October. Still, the flash estimate was higher than the 1,480 units resold in November last year.

Several property analysts told TODAY that the dip in resale volume towards the end of the year came as no surprise.

Mr Chris Koh, director of property firm Chris Koh International, said transactions typically slows down towards the end of the year due to the school holidays and festivities.

Mr Wong Xian Yang, OrangeTee’s head of research and consultancy, said the market is expected to pick up after Chinese New Year.

Despite the uptick in prices in November, a robust recovery is not expected, he added, noting that the resale price trend has been “relatively flat, with a slight downward bias”.

“Loan curbs continue to weigh on prices and the overall economy remains sluggish. Furthermore, the supply of new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats remains steady and the Government has been launching more BTO flats in mature estates. These factors would divert some demand away from the resale market,” Mr Wong said.

Resale HDB flats in mature estates have continued to maintain their value better than their counterparts in non-mature estates as the older towns tend to have “stronger locational attributes”, such as better access to amenities, he added.

Mr Koh said the slight adjustments in prices over the last few months are a sign that the resale market is “stabilising”.

“Demand for (resale flats in) mature estates is always higher, as one can always apply for BTO flats in non-mature estates,” he said.

The SRX Property data estimated the overall median Transaction-Over-X-Value (TOX) — a measure of how much a buyer is underpaying or overpaying for a unit — at negative S$2,000, indicating that buyers were, on average, paying below market value.

For HDB towns with more than 10 resale transactions, Bukit Merah reported the highest median TOX of S$10,000, followed by Bishan and Sengkang at S$3,000.

The lowest median TOX was Toa Payoh at negative S$11,100, followed by Sembawang at negative S$8,000.