More HDB resale flats sold in May, with slight dip in prices: SRX

[SINGAPORE] There were more Housing Board (HDB) resale flats sold in May compared with April, though resale prices showed a slight dip month-on-month.

Last month, 2,075 HDB resale flats changed hands, a 7.5 per cent increase from the 1,931 transacted units in the month before, according to flash estimates from real estate portal SRX released on Thursday.

Resale volume was 18.3 per cent higher in May than the 1,754 units sold in the same month last year.

In addition, data from SRX showed a 0.2 per cent drop in May's resale prices.

This was also a 1.2 per cent slide from May last year, and 14.1 per cent lower than the peak in April 2013.

Prices in mature estates dipped 0.1 per cent, while those in non-mature estates had a price drop of 0.2 per cent.

Prices of three-room, four-room and five-room flats were each 0.2 per cent lower, while prices of executive flats declined by 0.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the overall median transaction over X-Value (TOX) remained unchanged in May at negative S$1,000.

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.

Five-room flats recorded a median TOX of S$1,000, while executive flats were S$5,000.

However, the median TOX of three-room and four-room flats were negative S$4,000 and negative S$1,000 respectively.

Out of all the HDB towns with more than 10 resale transactions, Geylang had the highest median TOX at S$7,500, followed by Choa Chu Kang at S$7,000.

Bishan posted the lowest median TOX at negative S$12,600, followed by Clementi at negative S$8,500.

THE STRAITS TIMES