HDB resale prices drop 0.7% in September from August; volume falls 3.9%: SRX

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.

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.

In another bearish indicator, 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.

THE STRAITS TIMES