HOME buyers feeling the heat from fast-rising resale prices for Housing Board (HDB) flats may be about to get some respite.
The HDB taken the unprecedented step of disclosing figures designed to give an overview of resale prices region by region - along with the average sum paid above valuation.
Property agents expect the HDB's move to throw a bucket of cold water over some of the more absurd asking prices of late - some more than $100,000 above valuation.
FIGURED OUT 'The average figures are not reflective of the whole market.' - MR EUGENE LIM of ERA Singapore, who hopes HDB releases detailed data
» Public housing resale prices (April - June)
These overly optimistic asking prices have resulted from one-off record high prices in the central area that have captured wide attention in recent weeks.
The new HDB figures put those numbers in perspective by showing that average resale deals islandwide are not nearly as high as the eye-catching sales.
Although the HDB has long issued quarterly figures on resale flats, these new figures give more detail such as how much buyers pay above valuation.
Still, some market players have misgivings about the figures. Their gripe: They are grouped according to five clusters of towns, such as 'West' for Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong East and Jurong West.
They say this makes it difficult for buyers or sellers to get a clear picture of how flats similar to theirs are faring.
For example, five-room flats in Clementi, with an average value of $377,200 from January to March, are lumped together with those in Jurong West, which had an average value of $268,800 in the same period. The average second-quarter resale price for the 'West' cluster was $295,000.
This grouping system has also raised eyebrows as the HDB's regular quarterly resale statistics give average valuation of flats according to each of the 26 HDB towns.
The chief executive of property agency Propnex, Mr Mohamed Ismail, said: 'The true picture of the market is being muffled.'
Sellers with flats in more popular towns in a cluster may find it harder to sell now, if their unit is worth more than the cluster average, he added.
The assistant vice-president of ERA Singapore, Mr Eugene Lim, said: 'We hope more figures will come out. The average figures are not reflective of the whole market.'
The executive director of Roof Real Estate Group, Mr Dave Lau, predicts the move will slow resale transactions for the next two to three weeks as buyers lower their offers but sellers hold out for more.
Still, the agents concede the new figures will help ease worries among buyers.
Having more detailed figures released on a regular basis would help make the market more transparent, they said. However, it is not clear if these figures will become a regular feature.
Preliminary figures show resale prices of HDB flats overall grew by 2.85 per cent in April to June, up from 1.25 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
The HDB said yesterday that it will adjust building plans in line with market demand. It will offer about 3,000 new flats under its build-to-order scheme from this month till December, up from the 1,400 new flats it put up for sale in the first half of this year.
The Board also urged home buyers to watch their wallets.
'There is also a large pool of resale flats in the open market,' it said. 'Potential buyers are advised to take into account the overall market trends, instead of relying on reports of high selling prices for isolated resale transactions, when considering flat purchases.'
