Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Prices of HDB resale market stable for now


Source : Channel NewsAsia – 8 Jul 2009

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the HDB resale market is stable despite prices rising 1.2 per cent between April and June.

Market watchers had expected HDB prices to continue to slide with recessionary pressures.

Although HDB resale prices have risen in the last quarter, Mr Mah said there is no real cause for concern for now as long as there are no wild fluctuations in price movements and flat prices remain affordable.

Mr Mah added: “The fact is the HDB market is a large market, and a plus or minus one per cent – I would call it stable, I wouldn’t call it a rising market.”

On concerns that prices may be going up because the HDB is not building enough new flats, he said that is not the case.

Mr Mah continued: “If there is increased demand, yes, we will push out new flats. But we cannot be building new flats to cater to every last person who wants a new flat because if you do that, you are overbuilding and you don’t want to do that. So some of the new demand will have to be met by resale flats.”

This year, some 8,000 new flats will be launched, which is slightly more than last year. But Mr Mah said this figure could go up, if the pick-up is stronger.


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