March saw a very slight 0.1 per cent fall in prices for the resale HDB flat market, mainly for 3-room and 4-room flats. This is following a 0.2 per cent rise in February and a year of stagnant prices.
Analysts are not expecting resale flat prices to go anywhere anytime soon as the slowing economy and continued property cooling curbs continue. Buyers seem to be favouring slightly smaller 4-room flats over 5-room units and any spike in the price index could be occasional and non-indicative of the overall market outlook.
Resale flats in mature estates have always been popular with buyers, but even this market segment has been hampered by global and local uncertainties. There is good news however. Sales volume of resale HDB flats have risen in March despite the fall in prices. There were 451 more units sold in March than the 1,200 in February. The launch of new BTO (build-to-order) flats in February may have also taken some attention away from the resale market, though the latter will always find a place in the consumers’ radar as some buyers may not be willing or able to wait for new flats to be built or they may prefer living in locations other than those in which new flats are being launched or built.
