SINGAPORE - Resale prices for Housing Board flats continued to slump for the seventh consecutive month in August, marking a new low since January 2012.

Overall prices slipped by 1.1 per cent last month compared to July, according to Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) flash figures on Thursday (Sept 4). Compared to the peak in April last year, prices have gone down by 8.6 per cent.

In particular, three-room and four-room flats drove the index down with price declines of 2 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively. The prices for five-roomers and executive flats, however, went up by 0.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.

Resale volume went down by 1.1 per cent, with 1,327 units transacted in August compared to the 1,342 in July. Compared to the peak in May 2010 when 3,649 units were sold, resale volume dropped by 63.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, rental prices and volume stayed relatively flat, with an estimated 1,550 HDB flats rented in August.

According to SRX, buyers paid an average of $3,000 less than the estimated market value for flats.