HDB resale prices drop 0.7% in Sept; volume falls 3.9%

HOUSING Board resale prices dropped 0.7 per cent in September from August, and by 2.1 per cent compared to a year ago according to flash figures released by SRX Property on Thursday morning.

August's slight 0.1 per cent month-on-month gain in HDB resale prices was revised down to unchanged by the real estate portal.

For September, four-room flats recorded a price increase of 0.6 per cent from August, while three-roomers, five-roomers and executive flats saw prices drop by 1.3 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively.

Prices in mature estates fell by 1.2 per cent, while the drop in non-mature ones was 0.3 per cent.

SRX data also showed that 1,996 flats changed hands - a 3.9 per cent drop from August. However, this was 18.7 per cent more transactions than the year before.

Commenting on the latest resale volume figures, OrangeTee & Tie's head of research and consultancy Christine Sun said this indicates that the HDB resale market is "still considered healthy" in Setpember.

This is "especially since buying activities are usually slower during the Hungry Ghost Festival, and there are lingering concerns about the values of aging flats", she said.

"Displaced enbloc owners who are searching for replacement homes and potential buyers of private homes who are affected by the cooling measures may turn to the HDB resale market to meet their needs, such as price affordability, good living spaces and/or close proximity to parents and schools," said Ms Sun.

In another bearish indicator, the SRX data also found that the overall transaction-over-x-value (TOX) widened to negative S$1,100 last month from zero in August.

TOX measures whether buyers are overpaying or underpaying, compared with SRX Property's computer-generated market value.

It is the company's take on cash-over-valuation, the premium paid on a flat's expected value and which is no longer tracked by HDB.

Three-roomers, four-roomers and five-roomers saw a median TOX of negative S$2,000, negative S$2,000 and negative $$2,100 respectively. Executive flats had a median TOX of S$3,500.

The area that saw the highest median TOX was Geylang, at S$6,000, followed by Clementi with S$5,900.

Bukit Merah had the lowest median TOX at negative S$22,000, followed by Bishan with negative S$6,500.

Adapted from The Business Times, 5 Oct 2018.