HDB resale prices drop, first time in more than 4 yrs

Resale HDB prices fell by 0.9 percent in Q3 compared to the previous quarter, according to latest data released by the housing board on Friday. 

This is the first decline reported since Q1 2009 when prices dropped by 0.8 percent. 

At the same time, resale transactions decreased quarter-on-quarter by 13 percent to 4,529 units in Q3. 

As for the HDB rental market, subletting transactions dipped by five percent from 7,891 cases in Q2 to 7,505 cases in Q3. The total number of HDB flats approved for subletting rose 0.6 percent to 44,966 units in the same period. 

Moving forward, HDB will launch about 4,950 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats in Bukit Batok, Hougang, Jurong West, Sembawang and Woodlands next month. 3,000 balance flats will also be offered.   

To date, HDB has released 20,161 BTO flats and 4,455 balance flats and is on track to push out 25,000 BTO flats for the whole of 2013. 

Ref:http://sg.news.yahoo.com/hdb-resale-prices-drop-first-time-more-4-052340624--sector.html