HDB resale transactions down 14.2% in Q1 as prices edge lower

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s resale public housing market remained in the doldrums in the first quarter of this year, with prices slipping further and the number of homes exchanging hands down 14.2 per cent.

Resale prices of flats fell 0.3 per cent in the three months ending March, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said on Friday (April 26), confirming flash estimates announced earlier this month.

The resale price index — which provides information on the general price movements in the resale public housing market — is estimated to have dipped from 131.4 to 131.0.

Resale prices for HDB flats have been on the decline in the last two quarters. Prices declined by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter and 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Between January and March this year, the number of homes sold in the resale market fell by more than 800 — from 5,637 in the fourth quarter of last year to 4,835 in the first quarter.

On a year-on-year basis, however, the number of homes sold rose by 8.5 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2018.

HDB will launch about 3,400 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in Kallang Whampoa, Tengah and Woodlands, in its next sales exercise in May. There will also be a concurrent Sale of Balance Flats exercise.

The housing authority has said it plans to launch 15,000 new flats this year. CNA

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