Resale prices for HDB flats are showing signs of picking up, with latest data pointing to a 2-per-cent rise in the last two months, according to the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX).
The median resale price for HDB flats islandwide increased to S$438,800 in the last two months from S$430,000 in the first quarter of the year, the SRX said yesterday.
The SRX is a consortium of 11 leading property agencies including ERA, Savills and OrangeTee.
Mr Tan Kok Keong, director of research and consultancy at OrangeTee, said prices would remain resilient for the rest of the year but would likely see slower growth.
“I will expect low single-digit increase for the rest of the year,” he said.
The SRX figures suggest the market is resuming its uptrend after official data from the HDB published in April showed resale prices rising at their slowest pace in five-and-a-half years.
The HDB’s resale price index (RPI) rose 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year from the fourth quarter of last year, lower than the 1.7-per-cent increase in the previous quarter and at the slowest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2006.
Analysts said a slew of recent Government measures had helped to stabilise the RPI, including the ramped-up supply of new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats, the increased allocation to second-timers for such flats, as well as the higher income ceilings for direct purchases.
But property agency DWG noted earlier that “the litmus test for the HDB resale market will come three to four years down the road when these BTO flats and ECs are completed and there is a real urgency for these home buyers to sell their existing HDB flats within six months.”
Meanwhile, the private resale market is also on track for a stronger second quarter.
SRX data showed prices for private resale non-landed in the core central region rose 5.9 per cent over the last two months to S$1,733 per sq ft from S$1,636 per sq ft.
Source : Today – 9 Jun 2012