SINGAPORE, June 10 — The resale private housing market showed further signs of weakness with both transactions and prices falling last month as the various curbs imposed by the Government continued to cool activity and as buyers turn to value-for-money offerings at new launches.

Prices of non-landed private homes in the secondary market fell to their lowest since December 2012, slipping by 0.3 per cent last month from April, following a 0.5 per cent drop the previous month, the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) said in its flash report yesterday.

Resale volume plunged 7.5 per cent last month from April, with an estimated 421 units changing hands, the SRX report showed. Compared with May last year, transaction volume has plummeted 42.6 per cent.

Analysts said while measures such as the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) and the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework, introduced in June last year, continued to keep buyers on the sidelines, recent developer launches have also taken the attention away from the resale market.

“Developers are now a bit more willing to price their projects at more attractive levels, or even lower their prices in some cases,” said Jeffrey Hong, chief executive of property agency GPS Alliance.

Nicholas Mak, executive director of research and consultancy at property firm SLP International, said: “About 80 to 85 units at the Panorama were sold in May this year after the developer reduced the price by around 12 per cent. Such marketing activities in the primary market may have drawn away some buying demand from the resale market, resulting in lower resale volume.”

The Core Central Region (CCR), or city centre, was the hardest hit with resale prices slipping by 2.9 per cent, while the Outside Central Region (OCR), or suburban areas, suffered a 0.3 per cent drop. However, the Rest of Central Region (RCR), or city fringes, enjoyed a 0.6 per cent increase in previously-owned condominium prices, said the SRX.

Eugene Lim, key executive officer of property agency ERA, said: “Besides being affected by loan curbs, CCR prices are also declining due to ample unsold developer stock, the ABSD and weak leasing demand. RCR may have done well as there may be leasing potential as they are near the city and not as expensive as CCR properties.”

The analysts said the private resale market will see further softening as long as the property curbs remain. And as more developments are expected to be completed in the next few years, this increase in supply will also exert downward pressure on prices.

Hong expects overall prices to fall by 3 to 5 per cent this year.

“The market will continue to decline for the rest of the year. However, it is likely that the market will be more lively next year onwards because some buyers may want to take advantage of the price decline to make purchases,” he said.

“The economic fundamentals in Singapore are still sound and there’s still liquidity in the market. So if the price is right, buyers will come back into the market,” he added.

Mak was more bearish, pencilling in a 5 to 10 per cent drop over the 12-month period.

However, the decline would be slow if there is no significant increase in the mortgage rate, he said.

Meanwhile, private residential rents dipped 0.8 per cent month-on-month in May, although rental transactions rose by 3.7 per cent to an estimated 3,120 units from the previous month, the SRX data showed.

“There is demand for rental but landlords are getting more realistic with the drops in rent. Thus, it is now a tenant’s market. The increasing number of projects obtaining temporary occupation permits may be translating to more rental transactions as tenants generally prefer newer to older properties,” Lim said. — TODAY