SINGAPORE - Resale prices of condominiums continued to rise in June, lending weight to talk of a recovery in the property market. Values of resale condos rose by 0.9 per cent from May to hit a three-year high last month, according to SRX Property flash estimates on Tuesday (July 11).
Its resale index hit 171 in June, the highest since May 2014, when it registered 172.1.
Resale prices are up 2.2 per cent from June last year, but are still down by 4.4 per cent from their last peak in January 2014.
June's price rise was an improvement from the revised 0.5 per cent increase in May, though a shade lower than the 1 per cent rise from January to February.
Mr Alan Cheong, senior director of research and consultancy at Savills, said: "The resale price growth in June was strong. Given that the resale market is typically a better reflection of the overall sentiment, it suggests there is some broad- based recovery in the market."
However, OrangeTee head of research and consultancy Wong Xian Yang said: "Weak rents will continue to weigh on prices. This is especially so for the outside central region, where competition for tenants is expected to remain intense due to high volumes of completions in recent years."
June's price growth was driven mainly by the core central region, where resale values rose 1.3 per cent from May, and the suburbs, which recorded a 1.1 per cent increase. Resale prices in the city fringe remained unchanged, the SRX said.
Its estimates showed that resale transaction volumes fell by 12.5 per cent to 1,065 units in June from the 1,217 moved in May. But sales were up by 51.1 per cent from the 705 units sold in June last year.
"Sales fell in June largely due to the school holidays. We expect the sales momentum to continue after June," noted Dr Lee Nai Jia, head of research at consultancy Edmund Tie & Company.
SRX's median transaction over X-value (TOX) - which measures if buyers are overpaying or underpaying its computer-generated market value - came in at $1,000 in June, down from $2,000 in May. The Newton and Novena areas had the highest median TOX at $40,000, while the HarbourFront and Telok Blangah districts posted a negative TOX of $120,000, which meant most buyers in that district bought units well below SRX's computer-generated value.
