HDB resale prices in May edge up 0.2% from April: SRX

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HDB resale prices in May edge up 0.2% from April: SRX

By Jamie Lee

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@JamieLeeBT

Jun 9, 2016


HDB resale prices registered a slight 0.2 per cent lift in May compared with a month ago, data from SRX Property on Thursday showed.

Resale prices of four-room flats fell, while that of three-room flats, five-room flats, and executive flats rose.

This comes amid flat growth in resale volume. Some 1,826 HDB resale flats were sold in May 2016, comparable to the 1,828 units transacted in the previous month.

From a year ago, HDB resale prices were flat, with prices having declined by 10.9 per cent since the peak in April 2013. HDB resale volume from a year ago has increased by 15.9 per cent, compared with 1,575 units resold in May 2015. Still, since the peak of May 2010, resale volume has halved.

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HDB resale volume stays flat in May, but prices inch up 0.2%

Jun 10, 2016

Experts say buyers enticed by price stability, trend expected to continue in months ahead

Yeo Sam Jo


Resale prices for Housing Board flats crept up slightly by 0.2 per cent last month, while the number of transactions stayed more or less constant, continuing the market's stabilising trend.

According to flash figures from SRX Property released yesterday, the price increase was led by the prices of three-room and five-room flats, both of which rose by 0.7 per cent. Prices of executive flats inched up by 0.4 per cent, while those of four-room flats dipped by 0.7 per cent.

Property experts said the marginal price movements over the past year affirm that the HDB resale market is stabilising, and will continue to do so in the months ahead.

R'ST Research director Ong Kah Seng said: "HDB resale flat prices are on a solid, stable footing, so it was well within expectations that a marginal dip in prices in March and April saw a small rebound in May."

Prices in March and April saw dips of 0.1 per cent each month.

Mr Ong said: "It also shows that the property cooling measures are indeed working in bringing resale flat prices onto a soft landing."

Noting that buyers and sellers will calibrate their price expectations accordingly, ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said: "This trend is expected to continue in the coming months."

While overall HDB resale prices have largely stayed flat in the past year, they have dropped 10.9 per cent since peaking in April 2013.

The number of flats that switched hands went virtually unchanged last month, after a 10.3 per cent spike in April. There were 1,826 resale units, comparable with the 1,828 units transacted in April.

Still, this volume is 15.9 per cent higher than the 1,575 units resold in May last year.

Mr Lim said that some buyers could have been enticed by the price stability in recent months.

"Those in need of a flat would have bought one off the resale market as prices are evidently not going to fall significantly anymore," he added.

Compared with the peak of 3,649 units in May 2010, however, resale volume last month was still down by about half.

Mr Ong said that the slight price rebound last month amid a flat resale volume indicates that transactions are still underpinned by opportunistic purchases - where buyers jump in only because prices are now reasonable.

He added: "This means that the price increase last month wasn't driven by increased demand.

"Instead, increased prices seem to face resistance from buyers, so the resale volume in May was flat compared with in April, when sellers raised prices marginally."

Resale flats sold last month also went for a median $1,000 under their market value, or X-value.

This derives from SRX Property's computer-generated appraisal of home market values, which considers factors such as floor level and recent resale prices in the vicinity.

"The small median (X-value) of negative $1,000 underscores the observation that the HDB resale market is stable," said Mr Lim.

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HDB resale prices stay flat in May: SRX

Jun 10, 2016


THE latest flash estimates data from SRX Property on the Housing & Development Board resale flat market shows continuing price stability.

SRX Property's price index for HDB resale flats inched up 0.2 per cent in May 2016 over the preceding month.

This follows a 0.1 per cent month-on-month dip in April 2016. Year on year, the index is unchanged. From the peak in April 2013, the index has slipped by 10.9 per cent.

SRX Property also said that its price sub-index for resale flats in mature estates dipped 0.1 per cent month-on-month in May, while the sub-index for non-mature estates crept up 0.5 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, however, prices in mature estates have risen 0.6 per cent but contracted 0.5 per cent in non-mature estates.

According to data compiled by SRX Property, 1,826 HDB resale flats changed hands last month, almost unchanged from the 1,828 units resold in the preceding month.

Year-on-year, the resale volume climbed 15.9 per cent from the 1,575 units in May 2015. Nevertheless, last month's figure was down 50 per cent from the peak of 3,649 units in May 2010.

Meanwhile, the overall median transaction over X-value (TOX) in the HDB resale market was negative S$1,000 last month, a slight deterioration from zero in the previous month.

The median TOX measures how much people are overpaying or underpaying against the computer-generated estimated market value or the so-called X-Value.

ERA Realty Network's key executive officer Eugene Lim observed: "For the past year, prices have remained unchanged and every month, only minor price differences are recorded.

"This trend is expected to continue in the coming months, as buyers and sellers rightsize their expectations."