HDB down, private property up?

I refer to the article “HDB resale prices in June down 0.3% from May, SRX Property data shows” (Straits Times, Jul 5).

It states that “Resale prices of Housing Board flats fell 0.3 per cent last month from May, according to flash data released by real estate portal SRX Property on Thursday (July 5).

The data also showed that prices fell by 1.9 per cent from the same month last year, and by 13.3 per cent since the peak in April 2013.”

In contrast, “prices of private housing have increased by 9.1 per cent since the trough in Q2 2017. This has mostly offset the cumulative price decline of 11.6 per cent during the four-year period between mid-2013 and mid-2017” (Business Times, Jul 5).

Both HDB resale and residential private property prices have been going south from around the second quarter of 2013.

However, whilst private property resale prices have rebounded from around September last year – HDB resale prices continue to fall.

Historically, the two are very closely correlated.

So, why the apparent deviation now?

Has it got anything to do with Singaporeans realisation that older HDB flats may be declining in value rapidly to zero at the end of the typical 99-year lease?

Leong Sze Hian