HDB resale prices down 0.5% in January: SRX

Singapore

HDB resale prices fell 0.5 per cent in January 2016, compared to the month before that.

This marks the first decline in the monthly index in seven months, data released by SRX Property on Thursday indicated.

Still, consultants say there should be stable prices in the HDB resale market this year. ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim said: "With HDB's official transaction data often used as the basis for the negotiation of the sale price nowadays, prices rarely differ much from those of recently transacted comparable units. This in turn contributes to the increased price stability in the HDB market.

"We should continue to see recurring monthly price movements of about 0.5 per cent, either upwards or downwards. These are month-on-month fluctuations and should not be a cause for concern."

Year on year, HDB resale prices have fallen 1.3 per cent from January 2015. Since the peak in April 2013, prices have fallen 11.1 per cent.

Resale volume fell slightly with some 1,286 HDB resale flats being sold in January. This is an 8.6 per cent decrease from the 1,407 transacted units the month before.

Consultants read this as demand "holding steady".

Mr Lim said: "In February, HDB will be launching its sale exercise with 4,150 build-to-order units, including 1,580 in the popular Bidadari estate. This will probably affect resale demand in some way as buyers hold back to wait for the launch.

"Resale transactions are likely to pick up in the months of March, April and May, and this would usually set the momentum and pace for the rest of the year."

He added that HDB resale demand should remain steady this year, with a transaction volume comparable to that of 2015, at about 20,000 units.

Year on year, the resale volume rose 2.6 per cent, compared to 1,254 units re-sold in January 2015, the data showed.

Compared to its peak of 3,649 units in May 2010, resale volume was down by 64.8 per cent.