National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the cash-over-valuation (COV) paid on resale public flats has continued to drop.
He said that based on early estimates, COV levels are currently S$20,000 to S$21,000, down from S$23,000 in the last quarter of 2010. Transaction volume has also dropped, but he declined to give figures.
His comments came a day after HDB released figures showing that the growth of resale flat prices slowed to just 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
Mr Mah was speaking to reporters after marking the completion of the latest housing project under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme.
He noted that the private homes market was also showing signs of cooling and expects further moderation over the next few months.
When asked if he was concerned that prices of private homes in suburban areas are still posting relatively strong growth, he said there is a lot of supply to cater to the mass market and the government also plans to release more land.
Mr Mah also said it is too early to remove the property cooling measures.
He said: “We still need a couple of months to assess the full impact of those January measures. And right now, things seem to be cooling down, so the cooling measures seem to be working. So if that remains, then there’s really no need further action. However, if things change, and things can change, then we’ll relook the situation again.”
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Apr 2011