Public housing hots up while private cools

25 July 2008
Public housing hots up while private cools

SINGAPORE : Prices for public housing on the resale market have
risen, while those for private property have moderated for the second
quarter of 2008.

According to latest official figures, there has also been little
upward movement in the private property rental market.

Data for the HDB resale and rental markets based on transactions in
Q2 saw HDB's Resale Price Index (RPI) up 4.5 per cent, compared to
the 3.7 per cent increase for the previous quarter.

Reflective of the interest in public housing was the rise in resale
transactions, from about 6,360 cases in the first quarter to about
7,760 cases in the second quarter, an increase by about 22 per cent.

Meanwhile, subletting transactions in HDB flats increased by about 15
per cent to about 4,120 cases in the second quarter from about 3,580
cases in the first quarter.

In contrast, the private property market was a little more subdued,
with home prices increasing 0.2 per cent, the third straight quarter
of slower growth, signalling a definite slowing of the four-year
housing boom.

Prices for non-landed properties saw a modest 0.1 per cent rise
compared with 3.7 per cent in the previous quarter as prices for
condominium and apartments in districts 9, 10, 11, downtown district
and Sentosa fell 0.1 per cent compared to similar properties in areas
outside of the region which rose between 0.7 and 0.9 per cent.

As for landed property, prices rose 0.6 per cent compared with 3.9
per cent in the previous quarter.

Indicative of the cooling in the property market are the 43,473 new
units still unsold from a total supply of 67,569 uncompleted units
from private housing projects.

This number includes more than 12,000 which developers have held back
from launch and another 28,282 which are pending approval.