- The official private home price index slipped 2.4 per cent cent in the third quarter compared with the preceding quarter, according to latest data by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday. Rentals of private residential properties decreased by 0.9 per cent in the third quarter of this year 'Prices of private residential, office, and shop properties decreased by 2.4 per cent, 3.9 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively in the Q3 2008 while the prices of industrial properties increased slightly by 0.9 per cent in the same period,' URA said. 'Rentals of private residential, office and shop properties decreased by 0.9 per cent, 0.8 per cent, and 0.6 per cent respectively in the 3rd Quarter 2008, while the rentals for industrial properties increased slightly by 0.1 per cent in the same period,' URA said. In the public housing segment, Housing & Development Board's resale flat price index rose 4.2 per cent in Q3 over the preceding quarter, lower than the 4.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter gain seen in Q2. The total number of HDB resale applications registered rose by 4.5 per cent, from 7,763 cases in Q2 to 8,112 cases in Q3. The median Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) amount of all resale transactions in Q3 was $19,000 (US$12,646) - slightly lower than the $20,000 COV in Q2. Cases requiring COV constituted 89 per cent of all resale transactions in Q3, with 11 per cent of resale transactions conducted at or below valuation. Overall median sublet rents for HDB flats rose slightly in Q3. However, subletting transactions fell about 4 per cent from about 4,120 cases in Q2 to about 3,960 cases in Q3. The total number of HDB flats approved for subletting rose to about 21,400 units, compared to about 20,200 units in Q2