Resale flat prices continue to drop.
UPDATED: Prices of HDB resale flats fell by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, following a 0.7 percent decline in the previous quarter, according to latest flash estimates of the Resale Price Index (RPI) released by the Housing Board on Tuesday (2 January).
For the whole year of 2017, resale flat prices dropped by 1.5 percent, continuing its negative growth for five straight years.
Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty, attributed the price decline to the higher number of HDB owners and upgraders selling their properties to upgrade to private properties this year.
“With the positive sentiment in the residential market as well as the huge number of en bloc sales in 2017, we reckon a greater demand for HDB resale properties with some en bloc owners considering resale flats,” said Ismail.
“There is a likelihood that HDB prices may well experience a positive growth of 1.0 to 2.0 percent in 2018.”
At the same time, HDB resale transactions are expected to rise following the launch of the HDB Resale Portal on 1 January, noted Eugene Lim, Key Executive Officer at ERA Realty. The portal is designed to shorten the transaction procession time for resale flats from 16 weeks to eight weeks.
“With the new resale portal, buyers remain price sensitive and would want to ensure that the price they have negotiated and agreed with the seller is at a value that can be confirmed by HDB as the market value,” said Lim.
He believes that resale HDB prices will remain flat in 2018, with any increase likely to be very moderate and not exceeding 1.0 percent for the full year.
Meanwhile, about 17,000 new flats will be launched for sale in 2018. The first Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise will take place in February, where some 3,600 flats in Choa Chu Kang, Geylang, Tampines and Woodlands will be offered to home buyers, said the HDB.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
