Although private home prices generally declined in the first quarter, Outside Central Region (OCR) and HDB prices tell a different story. In Q1 2012, private home prices eased 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter, which pushed a rebound in sales for February, the highest since July 2009.
On the other hand, OCR prices and HDB resale prices have increased quarter-on-quarter by 1.2 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.
OCBC Bank's Quarterly Economic Review noted that the private residential property price index "declined marginally from 206.2 points (-0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter) in Q1 2012 (+0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter)."
However, sales rebounded to 2,413 units in February from January's 1,872 units.
"Prices of non-landed private residential properties decreased by 0.9 percent in the Core Central Region (CCR) and 0.7 percent in Rest of Core Central Region in the quarter. Prices in the Outside Core Central Region however increased by 1.2 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase in the previous quarter," it added.
Moreover, HDB resale prices have inched up 0.6 percent, slower than the 1.7 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in Q4 2012, marking the lowest RPI growth since the third quarter of 2006.
The HDB has committed to release 25,000 BTO flats this year. It has already offered 8,076 flats in Q1 under BTO exercises, along with 3,825 flats under a Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise.
In addition, the HDB will release another 4,640 BTO flats in Kallang / Whampoa, Choa Chu Kang, Sengkang and Punggol.
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