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Source: Channel NewsAsia
Prices of resale HDB flats went up for the fifth consecutive quarter to surpass the 1996 peak by nearly 18%.
HDB’s flash estimate for the second quarter showed the Resale Price Index (RPI) rise 3.8% on-quarter to 160.9, surpassing the 1996 peak of 136.9 points.
Some analysts said the second quarter tends to see the strongest activity as many home buyers leave their flat purchases till after the Lunar New Year.
But others didn’t expect resale prices to rise so quickly, because of the government’s aggressive launch of new flats this year.
The government on Wednesday announced its single largest launch of HDB flats and said if demand continues it will add more units for sale, bringing the total to 16,000 for the whole of this year.
Analysts said this will help assure home buyers there are enough flats to go around, and will in the long-term, moderate prices of resale flats.
But over the next few months, they do not expect any let-up either in resale demand or price.
Nicholas Mak, real estate lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said: “In the HDB market, although the slowdown might be more in terms of the Cash Over Valuation, or the seller’s expectations, the buyers, I think, are fairly bullish because in a way, the HDB public housing market forms the very base, the cheapest form of housing to anyone in Singapore.”
Furthermore, analysts said mass market condominiums are still out of the reach of most buyers.
Despite a slowdown in sales in recent months, private home prices have remained firm, increasing at 5.2 percent in the second quarter.
This is slightly smaller than the 5.6 percent rise in the first three months of this year.
It is also one of the smallest rate of increases in the last 12 months.
ERA Asia Pacific’s Associate Director Eugene Lim added that developers “are not likely to cut prices to move sales, as most of them have strong balance sheets.”
Chris Koh, Director of Dennis Wee Group, estimated that private home transactions have gone down by about 20 percent in recent months.
He said: “You speak to some of us who do private property transactions, we will tell you, yeah, the market is correcting a bit.
“We’re not seeing a steep rise in prices anymore for the private market. Instead private property prices have only inched one, two percent up and you can see that it’s more or less starting to plateau out.
“If that happens maybe the HDB market will mirror it….but at the moment I’m not seeing that in the HDB market yet.”
Overall, market watchers expect resale prices for 2010 to increase by 8 to 15 percent.
On Thursday, the government announced three more land parcels for sale, which could yield about 1,300 residential units, including 460 Executive Condominium flats.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority will also launch another three sites later this month, which will include sites for residential purposes.
In total, the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the second half of 2010 comprises 27 residential sites and four mixed-use sites where private residential housing can be built.
The total potential supply of 13,905 private residential units is the highest potential supply quantum from any half yearly GLS Programme since the Confirmed List/Reserve List system started in the second half of 2001.
Source: Channel NewsAsia
The Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) latest Build-To-Order (BTO) project, Waterway Terraces in Punggol, is six times oversubscribed, just a day after applications opened.
Five-room flats are the most popular, receiving almost 1,800 applications for the 306 available flats.
Four-room and three-room units are also oversubscribed.
Four-room flats received 2,461 applications for 306 units, while 268 applications were received for the 178 available three-room units.
Waterway Terraces is Singapore’s first waterfront public housing project.
Industry watchers said they expect the project to be more than 10 times oversubscribed.
HDB’s other new BTO projects – Rivervale Arc and Fernvale Foilage, both in Sengkang – were less popular.
About half of the units in these projects received applications.
Source: Channel News Asia
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has committed another $1 billion to upgrade eight towns.
Deputy PM and Minister for Home Affairs, Wong Kan Seng announced this at the HDB’s 50th anniversary celebrations on Sunday.
The eight towns are in the Central zone, namely Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Bishan, Serangoon, Kallang/Whampoa, Queesntown, Bukit Merah and Central.
This is on top of $3.4 billion spent since 1990, which has benefited some 150,000 households there.
Mr Wong said the additional spending would be used to upgrade the living environment of another 85,000 households, through programmes like Home Improvement and Lift Upgrading.
“I can assure you that as long as we have the financial resources, the government will continue to expand upgrading programmes to all other households eligible,” said Mr Wong.
Source: HDB InfoWEB
HDB’s flash estimate of the 1st Quarter 2010 Resale Price Index (RPI) is 154.9, an increase of 2.7% over 4th Quarter 2009, compared to the 3.9% increase from 3rd Quarter to 4th Quarter 2009. The RPI has risen by 3.5% per annum on average between 1st Quarter 2000 and 1st Quarter 2010.
Resale volume has trended downwards. The estimated number of resale transactions for the full quarter is about 8,500. This is about 5% lower compared to 4th Quarter 2009 which registered 8,926 cases.
The median Cash-Over Valuation (COV) amount for 1st Quarter 2010 (up to 21st March 2010) has stabilised at $25,000, an increase of $1,000 over 4th Quarter 2009. In contrast, the median COV doubled from $12,000 in 3rd Quarter 2009 to $24,000 in 4th Quarter 2009.
The RPI for the full quarter and more detailed public housing data for 1st Quarter 2010 will be released on 23 April 2010.
Update 23 April 2010. RPI Qtr 01 2010 is 155.0
Source: TODAY Online
Prices of HDB resale flats have been climbing for three quarters, the last two at more than 3 per cent each. Now, the rate of growth has slowed to 2.7 per cent in the first three months of this year.
And the median cash over valuation (COV) amount – after doubling in the fourth quarter – has risen by just $1,000 to $25,000, while resale volume headed south for two consecutive quarters.
Could this, coming after recent property cooling measures by the Government, be a sign that resale prices are encountering buyer resistance?
It is the first possible indication that resale prices may not rise by as much as they did last year, property experts told MediaCorp, but it is still a wait-and-see situation.
“It’s the right signal; it shows prices are growing at a slower pace,” said Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak.
The number of Built-to-Order (BTO) flats to be launched by HDB this year is also expected to take some steam off the resale market, said Mr Eugene Lim, associate director of ERA Asia Pacific.
But, he added, demand still outstrips supply: “The demand for resale flats comes predominantly from upgraders, downgraders and permanent residents because of their immediate housing needs.”
The HDB announced it will launch this month 1,200 BTO flats in Punggol and, from May to September, another 7,400 BTO flats in areas such as Sengkang, Jurong West, Yishun, Bukit Panjang and Woodlands.
But some, like sales manager Sri Aran, cannot wait three years for a new flat. He plans to upgrade from his three-room flat to a five-roomer, as his 16-year-old son now shares a room with his grandfather, but is concerned about rising resale prices.
While it makes more sense for first-time households to buy direct from the HDB as there is no COV, these buyers could “return to the resale market with a vengeance” since the rejection rate of BTOs is about 50 per cent, said Chesterton Suntec International’s head of research and consultancy Colin Tan.
However, the estimated number of resale transactions for the first quarter fell by 5 per cent, after a 23-per-cent drop in the fourth quarter. Mr Mak attributed this to slower sales during the Chinese New Year holiday and the gradual effects of the cooling measures.
Mr Lim agreed: “We need to watch Q2 and Q3, which tend to experience a lot more market activity.”
Property consultants expect resale prices to rise between 5 and 10 per cent this year. The Resale Price Index has risen by 3.5 per cent annually, on average, since 2000. Last year’s hike was 8.2 per cent.
