SINGAPORE - Resale prices of Housing Board flats edged up 0.3 per cent in March from a month before, according to Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) flash figures on Monday. But they were still 4.9 per cent lower than the same time last year.
Here is a press release from SRX:
HDB resale prices remained relatively flat. Overall, HDB resale prices is up slightly by 0.3 per cent in March compared to February. This increase is led by smaller 3 and 4-room flats which rose by 0.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.
However, prices of bigger flats - both 5-room and executive flats, continued to soften by 0.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively. On a year-on-year basis, prices in March 2014 is down 4.9 per cent from the same period last year.
Comment from Jeremy Lee, Co-Founder of SRX - "Bigger units face more challenges in today's market. Buyers can only use up to 30 per cent of their monthly income to service a HDB loan, which significantly reduce their ability to afford bigger flats. Consequently, reduced demand drives prices down for bigger HDB flats compared to smaller flats with a smaller price quantum."
Resale volume saw some recovery. According to HDB resale data compiled by SRX, 1,319 HDB flats were sold in March's resale market, a close to 40 per cent month-on-month increase from Feb 2014's 951 units.
It is also the highest monthly volume observed since last October's 1,393 resale cases.
On a year-on-year basis, March's resale volume is close to the 1,356 units resold in same month of last year.
Comment from Jeremy Lee, Co-Founder of SRX - "On the demand side, prices have become more affordable after a 5 per cent drop from last year's peak.
The policy change to shift the focus away from COV is likely to result in a more manageable cash outlay for most buyers. These factors can contribute to more buyers coming back to the resale market.
On the supply side, there will be ample sellers from HDB upgraders that will collect their keys this year to their new BTO flats. These upgraders will need to sell off their old flats within six months from receiving the keys.
Therefore, downward pressure on prices will persist until the demand-supply equilibrium is restored."
Rental volume highest in past eight months. An estimated 1,627 HDB flats were rented in March 2014.
Despite an 8.6 per cent drop year-on-year, March's rental volume was the highest in the past eight months.
Overall median rental prices remained flat at $2,300 for the fourth consecutive month.
X-Value a good approximation for Valuation. More than 98 per cent of all HDB transactions in 2014 have their valuation prices fall within ±10 per cent of the X- Value.
Comment from Jeremy Lee, Co-Founder of SRX - "Without valuation price as the benchmark, X-Value which is based on recent transactions have become the new starting point in negotiations. Since its launch on Mar 20, more than 60,000 X-Value requests have been made by both buyers and sellers."
Overall median Transaction Over X-value (T-O-X) remains negative. HDB prices continues to face downward pressure. The median T- O-X which measures how much people pay over the recent transaction prices have remained negative at -$3,000 for the overall HDB market.
Comment from Jeremy Lee, Co-Founder of SRX - "Like the COV, TOX is a forward indicator on how heated the market is. A positive number means people are paying above recent transactions. Likewise, a negative number means people are paying below recent transactions, causing downward pressure on prices. The bigger the number, the faster the pace of price increase or decrease. In the next month, SRX will breakdown the median TOX by HDB towns and HDB property types so that the public can gauge the upward or downward pressure in prices in the respective regions."
Monday, Apr 07, 2014
The Straits Times
Source: AsiaOne