Private home prices inch up

HDB resale prices have reached a new high, even as the supply of flats is being ramped up.

Private home prices have also gone up.

HDB resale prices in the third quarter of this year went up by 2 per cent from the second quarter, according to the latest estimates.

The resale price index hit 197.9 in the third quarter, marking the fastest rise since the third quarter of last year, an HDB press release on monday showed.

Meanwhile, HDB increased its Build-To-Order (BTO) supply to an annual record of 27,000 units.

It is also releasing more than 7,000 balance flats in the market. These are flats left unsold from previous sales launches or returned to HDB.

The current HDB sales exercise for BTO and balance flats will close on wednesday.

Said HDB in a press release: "We advise young couples looking to set up their first homes to consider applying for BTO flats.

"First-timer households may make use of the various housing grants to help them own a new flat."

With the grants, young couples buying their first homes will be able to buy a four-room flat for prices as low as S$219,000, HDB said.

Next month, HDB will offer 6,400 BTO flats in Queenstown, Bedok, Toa Payoh, Sengkang and Choa Chu Kang.

Meanwhile, private home prices also inched up by 0.5 per cent to a new high in the third quarter, according to preliminary estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

This is a slightly more than the 0.4 per cent gain in the previous quarter.

The pace of change in prices varied across the different market segments.

Prices of city centre non-landed homes increased by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, compared with a 0.6per cent rise in the previous quarter.

City fringe home prices rose 0.7 per cent, compared with a 0.4 per cent increase in the preceding three months.

Suburban home prices were up 1 per cent, double the 0.5 per cent increase in the earlier period.