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24-01-16, 14:48
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-resale-prices-up-for-first-time-in-10-quarters
HDB resale prices up for first time in 10 quarters
Prices inch up 0.1% in Q4 2015 from Q3; applications approved for subletting of HDB flats rise 6%
By Lee Meixian
[email protected]
@LeeMeixianBT
Jan 23, 2016
PUBLIC housing resale prices rose by 0.1 per cent quarter on quarter in Q4 2015, culminating in a full-year decline of 1.6 per cent.
This was according to data released by the Housing & Development Board (HDB) on Friday.
It is the first quarterly increase in 10 quarters, coming after a 6 per cent price drop in 2014.
PropNex Realty chief executive officer Ismail Gafoor said: "Though we expect resale prices to be flat in 2016, it may have already reached a bottoming-out level in Q3 2015. . . HDB prices are going through a period of consolidation with marginal price movements as compared to the previous two years."
With cooling measures still in place, Mr Ismail expects that in 2016, current price points may entice more buyers to enter the market.
This year will probably see a flat price movement of about -1 to +2 per cent, with volume exceeding 20,000 units due to the lower asking prices, he believes. This would be higher than the 19,306 resale transactions completed in 2015.
Meanwhile, the softening HDB resale flat prices may reduce the motivation for HDB owners to upgrade to mass-market private properties as their purchasing power has been weakened, he added.
ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim said: "This increased price stability could be pointing to a new equilibrium, indicating that the market may have found its support level. This could be the price level that buyers are willing to accept and pay.
"That being said, 2015 has seen some HDB flats hit record levels, with a five room unit at Pinnacle@Duxton changing hands for S$1.088 million."
He also warned that with higher interest rates to come and a further slowdown of Singapore's economy expected, it may be too early to say that the market has turned.
Resale transactions rose by 2 per cent, from 4,893 cases in Q3 to 4,992 cases in Q4. Some 19,306 resale flats were sold in 2015, 11.5 per cent higher than in 2014.
Mr Lim said this reflects the attractiveness of resale flats. He does not believe that HDB's enlarged supply of 18,000 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats this year will affect resale demand, going by what happened in Q4 when HDB launched a bumper crop of new flats.
He expects HDB resale prices to fall gradually by about 1-3 per cent in 2016.
Lee Nai Jia, DTZ's regional head of South East Asia Research, expects HDB resale prices to stay flat in 2016.
He believes that the higher sales volume and price appreciation in Q4 were largely triggered by the introduction of the Proximity Housing Grant last August, which benefits buyers of flats near their parents or married children.
"The grant made resale flats more affordable and that led to an increase in demand, which in turn supported a slight uptick in prices.
"Notwithstanding this, the effect of the grant is likely to wear off in subsequent quarters and we expect prices to remain flat over the course of the year," he said.
On the rental side, the number of applications approved for subletting of HDB flats rose by 6 per cent, from 10,018 cases in Q3 to 10,618 cases in Q4.
Overall for 2015, 41,531 units were sublet, an increase of 14.6 per cent over 2014, according to ERA's calculations.
Mr Lim expects rental volume to hold at about 40,000 units in 2016.
HDB resale prices up for first time in 10 quarters
Prices inch up 0.1% in Q4 2015 from Q3; applications approved for subletting of HDB flats rise 6%
By Lee Meixian
[email protected]
@LeeMeixianBT
Jan 23, 2016
PUBLIC housing resale prices rose by 0.1 per cent quarter on quarter in Q4 2015, culminating in a full-year decline of 1.6 per cent.
This was according to data released by the Housing & Development Board (HDB) on Friday.
It is the first quarterly increase in 10 quarters, coming after a 6 per cent price drop in 2014.
PropNex Realty chief executive officer Ismail Gafoor said: "Though we expect resale prices to be flat in 2016, it may have already reached a bottoming-out level in Q3 2015. . . HDB prices are going through a period of consolidation with marginal price movements as compared to the previous two years."
With cooling measures still in place, Mr Ismail expects that in 2016, current price points may entice more buyers to enter the market.
This year will probably see a flat price movement of about -1 to +2 per cent, with volume exceeding 20,000 units due to the lower asking prices, he believes. This would be higher than the 19,306 resale transactions completed in 2015.
Meanwhile, the softening HDB resale flat prices may reduce the motivation for HDB owners to upgrade to mass-market private properties as their purchasing power has been weakened, he added.
ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim said: "This increased price stability could be pointing to a new equilibrium, indicating that the market may have found its support level. This could be the price level that buyers are willing to accept and pay.
"That being said, 2015 has seen some HDB flats hit record levels, with a five room unit at Pinnacle@Duxton changing hands for S$1.088 million."
He also warned that with higher interest rates to come and a further slowdown of Singapore's economy expected, it may be too early to say that the market has turned.
Resale transactions rose by 2 per cent, from 4,893 cases in Q3 to 4,992 cases in Q4. Some 19,306 resale flats were sold in 2015, 11.5 per cent higher than in 2014.
Mr Lim said this reflects the attractiveness of resale flats. He does not believe that HDB's enlarged supply of 18,000 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats this year will affect resale demand, going by what happened in Q4 when HDB launched a bumper crop of new flats.
He expects HDB resale prices to fall gradually by about 1-3 per cent in 2016.
Lee Nai Jia, DTZ's regional head of South East Asia Research, expects HDB resale prices to stay flat in 2016.
He believes that the higher sales volume and price appreciation in Q4 were largely triggered by the introduction of the Proximity Housing Grant last August, which benefits buyers of flats near their parents or married children.
"The grant made resale flats more affordable and that led to an increase in demand, which in turn supported a slight uptick in prices.
"Notwithstanding this, the effect of the grant is likely to wear off in subsequent quarters and we expect prices to remain flat over the course of the year," he said.
On the rental side, the number of applications approved for subletting of HDB flats rose by 6 per cent, from 10,018 cases in Q3 to 10,618 cases in Q4.
Overall for 2015, 41,531 units were sublet, an increase of 14.6 per cent over 2014, according to ERA's calculations.
Mr Lim expects rental volume to hold at about 40,000 units in 2016.