HDB resale prices to rise 3-8% in 2013: analysts

Dec 27, 2012 - PropertyGuru.com.sg

By Romesh Navaratnarajah:

Property analysts expect resale prices of HDB flats to rise by around three to eight percent in 2013, while cash-over-valuations (COVs) could grow between five and 10 percent, reported The Business Times.

With limited supply and easy monetary conditions, experts predict a sustained demand for such units next year.

Nicholas Mak, Executive Director of Research and Consultancy at SLP International, compared the resale market to a large ship that requires more time to turn around.

“Nothing short of government intervention or a softening economy would bring down prices.”

An expected stabilisation in prices and COVs failed to materialise fully this year amid efforts by the government to divert demand from the resale market, said Lee Sze Teck, Senior Manager for Training, Research and Consultancy at DWG.

Mak implied that the buoyant resale market would be hard to dampen even as a bumper supply of Build-to-Order (BTO) units is released by the government, adding that it could take two to three more years for the government to do so.

The report also noted that property measures implemented this year will have mixed results. Restriction on loan tenures will have a chilling effect, while restrictions on the volume of shoebox units in private residential projects could turn demand back to resale homes.

This year’s low borrowing rate spurred interest from permanent residents (PRs) and second-time buyers.

Overall, analysts said most of the factors that kept the resale market abuzz this year will continue to remain relevant in 2013.
 
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email [e-mail]