SINGAPORE — Resale prices of Housing Development Board (HDB) flats took a tumble last month — the first since March — as the number of flats changing hands also fell,  according to the latest SRX Property estimates released today (Aug 6).

Overall resale prices fell by 0.5 per cent, led mainly by a 1.2 per cent drop for five-room flats. Prices of executive flats and four-room flats also fell by 0.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

Property analysts dismissed the fall in prices as a monthly fluctuation, arising from greater volatility due to a reduced transaction volume.

Last month, 1,552 flats exchanged hands in the resale market - 9.2 per cent lower than the 1,709 flats that had been sold in June.

A likely reason for lower figure could be the expectation that interest rates might rise, as signalled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore earlier this year.

“People are more cautious about paying so much (for a resale flat),” said Mr Wong Xian Yang, senior manager of research and consultancy at OrangeTee.

Another possible factor could be the weak stock market performance overseas, leading to more conservative transactions at home, said Century 21’s chief executive Ku Swee Yong.

For ERA’s key executive officer Eugene Lim, the current resale prices are “largely within expectations” and point towards a stabilising market.

Across the island, newer estates such as Bukit Batok and Woodlands saw a 0.9 per cent drop in resale prices. Mature estates trailed behind – falling just 0.1 per cent last month.

Mr Alan Cheong, Savills Singapore’s research head, noted that newly-completed Build-to-Order projects in Sengkang and Punggol have led to greater supply coming upstream, thus lowering demand for older flats in these areas.

“The resale market is suffering in areas that are perceived to be congested,” he said, adding that prices might take a further hit in these estates.

Resale prices, however, might inch up for flats in mature estates, since these areas are equipped with amenities and are thus perceived to be more valuable, said Mr Cheong.

Analysts also cautioned against reading too deeply into monthly figures, and pointed instead to year-on-year statistics for comparison. 

Compared to figures from a year ago, resale prices of HDB flats  have declined by 4.3 per cent. And while  the resale volume fell last month, they noted that it had increased by 15.6 per cent when compared to figures from a year ago.

“This indicates that buyers’ confidence in the resale market has increased this year in view of stabilising prices,” said ERA’s Mr Lim. “Resale HDB prices have remained stable for most of this year thus far; and buyers feel more assured that they are not having to pay unnecessary cash premiums unlike some two years ago.”

Last month, the overall median Transaction Over X-Value (TOX) – which measures how much a buyer is overpaying or underpaying SRX Property’s estimated market value --- was negative.

Flats in Bukit Merah had among the highest median TOX, recorded at S$6,000, which suggests that the majority of buyers within this estate purchased flats above the estimated market value.

Pasir Ris resale flats, however, had the lowest median TOX. The bulk of new buyers paid S$11,000 below the estimated market value.

The analysts interviewed expect resale prices to fluctuate slightly in the next few months, but remain stable on the whole.