oops
04-06-14, 15:44
Only 470 HDB flats were sold within 12 months after meeting the five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) last year, compared to 1,006 flats in 2012, according to media reports citing HDB.
This is a far cry from the 1,231 units offered in the market in 2011 and the 1,338 flats sold in 2010, the highest figure in the past five years.
“Last year's HDB resale prices have started to moderate. We saw prices start to come down, especially towards the second half of last year,” said ERA Realty Network’s Key Executive Officer Eugene Lim.
“So those who are not in urgent need of selling their flat would probably want to wait it out for the next [upturn], instead of selling their flat when the market is going down.”
Instead of selling, more owners opted to sublet their units after achieving the MOP. Last year, 412 flats were leased out compared to just 268 flats in 2012 and 322 flats in 2012.
“People see public housing as a price asset, because the minute they sell it, they are not able to generate income, and at the same time, they are not able to enter the (HDB) market again,” noted PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail.
“Today we are talking about public housing having a decent rental yield of about 4 to 4.5 percent, which is marginally higher than private property, which would have 3 to 3.5 percent (rental yield),” he added.
Lim also noted that existing HDB flat owners, who intend buy private property, don’t want to sell their HDB flats.
This is because private property owners who purchase an HDB unit are obliged to sell their private property within six months. “This is the current government policy, so most homeowners if they can afford to, will try and hold on to both their HDB flats and their private property,” he added.
Photo by Muneerah Bee
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email [email protected]
This is a far cry from the 1,231 units offered in the market in 2011 and the 1,338 flats sold in 2010, the highest figure in the past five years.
“Last year's HDB resale prices have started to moderate. We saw prices start to come down, especially towards the second half of last year,” said ERA Realty Network’s Key Executive Officer Eugene Lim.
“So those who are not in urgent need of selling their flat would probably want to wait it out for the next [upturn], instead of selling their flat when the market is going down.”
Instead of selling, more owners opted to sublet their units after achieving the MOP. Last year, 412 flats were leased out compared to just 268 flats in 2012 and 322 flats in 2012.
“People see public housing as a price asset, because the minute they sell it, they are not able to generate income, and at the same time, they are not able to enter the (HDB) market again,” noted PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail.
“Today we are talking about public housing having a decent rental yield of about 4 to 4.5 percent, which is marginally higher than private property, which would have 3 to 3.5 percent (rental yield),” he added.
Lim also noted that existing HDB flat owners, who intend buy private property, don’t want to sell their HDB flats.
This is because private property owners who purchase an HDB unit are obliged to sell their private property within six months. “This is the current government policy, so most homeowners if they can afford to, will try and hold on to both their HDB flats and their private property,” he added.
Photo by Muneerah Bee
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email [email protected]