HDB resale volume up 16.5% in April as resale prices slip 0.4%: SRX

THE volume of Housing Board (HDB) resale flats changing hands rose by 16.5 per cent in April from the previous month, while prices eased slightly.

According to flash estimates from real estate portal SRX Property on Thursday (May 9), 1,931 resale flats were sold in April, up from 1,657 transactions in March.

Last month's volume also marked a 4.3 per cent increase when compared with April last year.

OrangeTee & Tie research and consultancy head Christine Sun said that the increase in sales is "within expectation", as there are many flats reaching their five-year minimum occupation period this year, making them eligible for resale.

She said that the increase could also be caused by a seasonal effect, as housing activities usually ramp up from the second quarter of the year.

Ms Sun further noted that policy tweaks that may allow buyers to use more Central Provident Funds to purchase older flats may spur demand for older flats in the coming months.

"Some older flats are currently attractively priced, especially those located within mature estates which boasts a host of amenities and within proximity to the city centre," she said.

Data from SRX also showed a 0.4 per cent dip in April's resale prices, compared with March.

This was a 0.6 per cent slide down from April last year, and a 14 per cent drop from the peak in April 2013.

Mature estates recorded a year-on-year price decrease of 1.4 per cent while prices for non-mature estates remained stagnant.

When compared with figures from March 2019, mature estates saw a 0.7 per cent price drop, while non-mature estates had a price decrease of 0.1 per cent.

The only prices that increased were those of 4-room flats, with a slight jump of 0.2 per cent. The prices of 3-room, 5-room and executive flats fell by 1.6 per cent, 0.2 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively.

Ms Sun said that the overall price slide was a result of increased housing supply. The price dip in mature estates could also be attributed to a general price weakness of older flats in such estates.

"Some owners may have accepted lower price offers in light of rising competition from newer flats in non-mature estates reaching their five-year minimum occupancy period and concerns about the depreciating value of ageing flats," she said.

Meanwhile, the overall median transaction over X-Value (TOX) was negative S$1,000 in April, a S$1,000 decrease from March.

The median TOX measures whether people are overpaying (in the case of a positive TOX) or underpaying (when there is a negative TOX) relative to the SRX Property X-Value estimated market value for flats.

The median TOX for 5-room flats and executive flats were S$3,000 and S$2,000 respectively.

On the other hand, 3-room and 4-room flats had a median TOX of negative $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.

Out of all the HDB towns with more than 10 resale transactions, Pasir Ris had the highest median TOX at $7,000, followed by Sengkang at $4,000.

Ang Mo Kio had the lowest median TOX value of negative $7,500, followed by Clementi and Queenstown at negative $7,000.

THE STRAITS TIMES