SINGAPORE - For some, the housing dream at Sengkang and Punggol has turned sour. More than half of all resale transactions in these estates last month were found to have closed below valuation.
The sellers were the hardest hit among those from Housing Board towns that clocked deals with a negative cash-over-valuation, revealed the Singapore Real Estate Exchange yesterday.
Overall, one in five HDB resale deals was closed below valuation.
Other areas that had more than 30 per cent of all transactions made below valuation included Choa Chu Kang, Sembawang and the outskirts of Woodlands.
Executive director Andy Choa of real-estate firm DWG pointed out that the "abundance of willing sellers" in Sengkang and Punggol could be related to the demographics of homeowners in both areas.
"They are mostly young couples who could be looking to move elsewhere to suit their families' evolving needs," he said.
Mr Nicholas Mak, executive director of research and consultancy at SLP International, said that the ramped-up supply of Build-To-Order flats in both areas could pressure homeowners into selling their flats at a lower price than expected.
"It is likely that sellers are choosing to sell their flats now, rather than run the risk of selling them at even lower prices when new flats come up in the future," he said.
However, both Mr Choa and Mr Mak said that, because home prices in Sengkang and Punggol remain high, sellers still stand to gain even if they let go of their flats at valuation, or lower.
Friday, Jan 10, 2014
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Source: AsiaOne