Overall median cash premiums for Housing Board (HDB) resale flats continued to drop, with the premiums reaching a four-year low of $18,000 in August. July's median cash premium was $20,000 while the lowest median premium before last month's was recorded in July 2009 at $10,000.

Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX) flash estimates released on Friday morning showed that Punggol's executive flats had the lowest cash-over-valuation (COV) by region. Two out of the three transactions there in August were sold below valuation, while the median COV was $13,000 below valuation.

The highest COV was seen in Bishan HDB executive flats which fetched median COVs of $120,000.

Overall HDB resale prices slipped 0.7 per cent in August, the fourth consecutive monthly drop. This is the first time prices have dropped for four consecutive months since January 2006.

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HDB resale volume however stayed flat. A total of 1,280 HDB flats were sold in the resale market in August, almost identical to July's 1,286 resale cases. This was a 29 per cent drop from the same period the year before.

An estimated 1,560 HDB flats were rented in August, down 3 per cent from July. However, this was still 12 per cent higher than the 1,392 HDB rental transactions in August 2012.