HDB resale flat prices fall 0.2% in Q4; full-year 2018 prices dip 0.9% over 2017
Market watchers cite property cooling measures, concerns over the falling value of older flats and bigger supply of resale flats as factors
Singapore
HOUSING Board resale flat prices fell slightly by 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the quarter before, according to latest HDB flash estimates.
Resale flat prices also dropped 0.9 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year ago.
For the whole of 2018, HDB resale prices dipped 0.9 per cent over 2017, said HDB on Wednesday.
The final figures, with more detailed public housing data, will be released on Jan 25.
OrangeTee & Tie's head of research Christine Sun said HDB flat prices saw a faster decline in the fourth quarter of 2018 as market sentiment was affected by property cooling measures and concerns over the depreciating value of older flats.
She also attributed the dip in prices to an increased supply of HDB flats entering the resale market after reaching the minimum occupation period (MOP). "The decline in overall prices has been moderate as there have been more non-standard flats reaching MOP and being sold at relatively attractive prices in recent months," she said.
Some of these flats include executive apartments, terrace houses, units built under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme and flats at Pinnacle@ Duxton, she noted.
Looking ahead, PropNex Realty chief executive Ismail Gafoor expects resale prices to increase by 1 to 2 per cent this year, due to more en bloc sellers entering the HDB resale market to look for replacement homes.
Ms Sun said more HDB resale flats will reach their minimum occupation period this year, which in turn could push resale prices down. But this could be countered by fewer Build-To-Order (BTO) flats being launched this year, and the government possibly allowing buyers to use more of their CPF money to buy older flats. She thus expects resale prices to hover between 0 and -2 per cent for the whole of this year.
HDB will launch about 15,000 new flats for sale this year, down from about 17,000 last year.
In the first BTO exercise in February, HDB will offer about 3,100 flats in Jurong West, Kallang Whampoa and Sengkang.
There will be a Re-Offer of Balance Flats exercise as well.
READ MORE: Marginal home price growth expected for 2019
