Condo resale prices dip as interest wanes

This article is more than 12 months old

Rachael Boon, The Straits Times

May 30, 2017 06:00 am

 Condo resale prices took a dip last month despite a positive turn in March, possibly as buyers look towards new projects.

Values slid 0.6 per cent from March to April, said flash estimates of the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index (SRPI) yesterday. The fall reversed the 0.8 per cent rise in values from February to March.

R'ST Research director Ong Kah Seng said the dip was within expectations. Although sentiment may have improved, he said: "The exuberance in buyers' sentiments has been more significant at the developer sales segment, rather than for resale properties.

"Buying interest remains realistic for resale properties. Buyers focus on getting value for money or opportunistic investments for resale properties."

OrangeTee's head of research and consultancy Wong Xian Yang said the weak rental market and tepid economic outlook have continued "to exert downward pressure on prices despite improving sentiments".

The central region recorded a 0.5 per cent decline in April, overturning a 0.8 per cent increase from February to March.