THE Housing Board resale market continued its slump, with prices falling for the seventh straight month in August, according to a recent report by SRX.
Here are the salient points:
1. HDB resale prices drop for 7th consecutive month. HDB resale prices slipped 1.1% in August compared to July 2014. HDB 3 and 4 -room flats drove the overall index down with declines of 2.0% and 0.9%, respectively. In comparison, 5 – Room and Executive prices increased 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively.
According to the SRX HDB Price Index:
- Year-on-year, prices have dropped 7.1% from August 2013;
- Prices have declined 8.6% since the peak in April 2013;
- August 2014 prices mark a new 31-month low since Jan 2012.
2. Resale volume slipped slightly. According to HDB resale data compiled by SRX Property, 1,327 HDB resale flats were sold in August, a 1.1% decrease from 1,342 transacted units in July.
- Year-on-year, resale volume dropped 3.3% down compared with 1,372 units resold in August 2013;
- Resale volume is down 63.6% compared to its peak of 3,649 units in May 2010.
3. Rental volume flat/span>. An estimated 1,550 HDB flats were rented in August 2014. In comparison, 1,548 units were rented in July 2014.
- Year-on-year, rental volume in August 2014 is 10.7% higher compared with 1,400 units rented in August 2013.
4. Rental prices remained flat. According to the SRX HDB Price Index for Rentals, rents posted a small increase of 0.2% in August compared to July. HDB 4 and 5-room flats both saw rent increases of 0.9%, while 3-room and Executive flats posted declines in rent of 0.7% and 1.6%, respectively.
- Year-on-year basis, rents in August 2014 are down 5.6% from August 2013.
5. Overall median Transaction Over X-Value (T-O-X) remains negative. According to SRX Property, HDB prices continue to face downward pressure and negative market sentiment. The median T-O-X for HDB measures whether people are overpaying or underpaying the SRX Property X-Value estimated market value.
- T-O-X remained at NEGATIVE $3,000 in August 2014;
- The median T-O-X has been negative since May 2013.
6. Bukit Merah ONLY town with relatively high activity and a POSITIVE median T-O-X. For HDB towns with more than 10 resale transactions in August 2014, only Bukit Merah reported a positive median TOX of $8,000. This means that majority of the buyers in Bukit Merah has purchased units above what other buyers who came before paid for similar units.
7. Among relatively active towns, Bukit Panjang posts the most Negative median T-O-X. Among HDB towns with more than 10 transactions, the lowest median T-O-X were in Bukit Panjang, Ang Mo Kio, and Hougang, at NEGATIVE $ 12,800, NEGATIVE $8,000, and NEGATIVE $6,100, respectively. This means that majority of the buyers in these towns has purchased units below what other buyers who came before paid for for similar units.
See the report at: static.streetsine.s3.amazonaws.com/SPI/HDB_Flash_Report_Aug_2014_Web.pdf
Katong Homes 