HDB resale market 'flat' despite slight price rise
HDB resale prices inch up, but transaction volume down
Housing Board resale prices edged up 0.2 per cent last month, but transaction volume fell 5.3 per cent, according to SRX Property flash figures yesterday.
Experts said the slight price rise made no change to the picture of overall price stability in the HDB resale market, which has been largely flat for the past two years.
Property consultancy company R'ST Research director Ong Kah Seng said: "This price rise in November is... a random occurrence and cannot be read as prices of resale flats trending north soon."
It could be partly due to buyers eager to seal a deal before the traditionally quiet December festive period, he added.
The overall price rise was reflected in most flat types. Prices of three- and four-room flats rose by 0.2 per cent and those of five-room flats by 0.3 per cent.
But the resale prices of executive flats fell 0.3 per cent.
Flats in mature estates saw a price rise of 0.8 per cent, but this was partly offset by a 0.3 per cent fall in non-mature estates.
HDB resale price changes have been fluctuating around zero per cent for several months.
A 0.7 per cent rise in July, for instance, was negated by an equal fall in August. Similarly, a 0.1 per cent rise in September was followed by a 0.1 per cent fall in October.
This flattish market situation is expected to continue next year, assuming that long-running market-cooling measures are not lifted.
There were 1,585 flats resold last month, down 5.3 per cent from the 1,673 deals in October.
Yet, this was up from 1,480 flats which changed hands in November last year.
The latest November figures bring the total deals for this year, so far, to 18,005 - already more than 2014's record full-year low of 17,318, and on track to come in similar to last year's full-year total of 19,306.
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