Abstract

<TBD>

Problem and Motivation

The public housing resale market is a closely watched market. A quick search on news revealed that the public housing resale market movement is watched closely almost on a monthly basis, especially for indicators hinting the stability or trend of the prices. These are crucial information not just for real estate companies, but also buyers and sellers of resale flats.

This analysis is focused on providing relevant information that can aid buyers of resale flats to make informed decisions when deciding to buy or sell a flat. For buyers, they include newly-wed couples that may urgently need a house after marriage or when expecting a newborn. Knowing the prices of resale flats by areas can allow them to decide on a suitable area for house-hunting depending on their budget and preferences for amenities in the area

We assume that the buyers have minimal knowledge of statistics. Hence, charts would be generally designed from an approach that are visually attractive without unnecessary fluff, and requires little time for them to understand without having prior statistical knowledge.

Data

Data Acquisition

The dataset from Data.Gov.Sg: Resale Flat Prices is used to answer the above questions can be found from . There are two datasets available on the webpage. We will be using the resale flat prices data that includes data for the year 2015 to first half 2016, to answer the questions required.

Dataset Variables

In the data.gov.sg dataset, a quick review of the variables reveals no missing data.

The dataset includes the following variables:

Variable Name	Description	Example Levels/Values
Month	The 4-digit year and 2-digit month of the transaction	From “2012-03” to “2016-06”
Town	Includes the 23 towns and 3 estates under HDB planning	ANG MO KIO BEDOK BISHAN
Flat Type	The flat type sold. More information can be gotten from HDB: Types of Flats	1 ROOM 5 ROOM EXECUTIVE
Block	The block number of where the flat was sold.	99C 99B 977
Street Name	The street name in the town or estate where the flat was sold.	ZION RD YUNG SHENG RD WHAMPOA WEST
Storey Range	The storey of the flat sold. Ranges from first floor to highest fifty-first floor. Floors are binned to groups of 3 to 5, and may include overlaps	01 TO 03 25 TO 27 43 TO 45
Floor Area Sqm	The floor area of the flat sold. Ranges from 31 to 280 square metres.	45 74 92
Flat Model	The model type of the flat sold. There are 19 types. Details of the different flat models can be view on a website providing comprehensive information: HDB History and Floor Plan Evolution	Adjoined Flat Model A New Generation
Lease Commencement	The starting year of the flat lease, typically a 99-year period	1966 2004 2013
Resale Price	The transacted price of the flat sold.	$195,000 $515,000 $1,088,888

Data Modelling

The following are changes made before charting was done on Tableau: <TBD>

Variable	Changes Made and Rationale
Month	A new variable "Date" was created to parse the YYYY-MM format of the Month variable. The formula DATEPARSE('yyyy-MM',[Month]) was used in the calculated field.
Town	The variable is set to a State/Province geographical role for purpose of applying it to filled maps in the analysis.

Approaches

General Colour Scheme for Charts

A consistent colour scheme was used in the charts to retain a sense of familiarity with the readers and reduce confusion. Several colour schemes was experimented for use across the charts. The final colour scheme selected deliberately used contrasting colours. Depending on the chart used, either 3 steps or 5 steps colours was used to allow readers to easily understand the concept of "high, medium, low" without further explanation.

Data Analysis

Share of the resale public housing supply in 2015

An overlay of the number of resale transactions by each HDB town or estate on the Singapore Map reveals that towns with the most resale flat transactions are from Jurong West, Tampines, Bedok, Sengkang and Woodlands. It can be observed that most of these areas are well built-up, and includes amenities such as shopping centres.

Visualisation rationale: <TBD>