SINGAPORE – Prices of Housing Board resale flats edged up 1.8 per cent in the first three months of 2024, a quicker pace than the 1.1 per cent growth in the previous quarter.
It is the 16th consecutive quarter of price increase since the second quarter of 2020, according to data released by HDB on April 26.
HDB said that the resale market is stabilising, as resale prices rose 4.9 per cent in 2023, lower than the 10.4 per cent increase in 2022, and the 12.7 per cent climb in 2021.
It also noted that the overall 2.9 per cent price growth lodged over the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 is close to the total increase of 2.8 per cent over the second and third quarters of 2023.
It advised households to be financially prudent in their flat purchases, citing an uncertain economic outlook and elevated mortgage rates. “The Government will continue to monitor the property market closely and adjust its policies as necessary to promote a stable and sustainable property market,” HDB added.
PropNex Realty head of research and content Wong Siew Ying noted that the price growth in the HDB resale market has outpaced that of private properties since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
“HDB resale prices, which started to recover in the second half of 2019, have staged a strong recovery, helped by the healthy demand for resale flats during the pandemic,” she said. From the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2024, HDB resale prices rose by 40 per cent, she added.
In comparison, Urban Redevelopment Authority data showed that prices in the private market rose by 34 per cent in the same period.
Property analysts attributed the quicker price growth in the first quarter of 2024 to a surge in demand for resale flats, mainly from the first group of private home owners who have served their 15-month wait-out period after selling their homes.
The wait-out period is a temporary measure rolled out in September 2022 to cool the resale market.
Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at property firm OrangeTee Group, said more first-time buyers chose to purchase resale flats due to less frequent Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercises, which could have also propped up prices.
From 2024, BTO flats will be offered across three sales exercises, in February, June and October, down from the previous four launches a year.
“Demand for resale flats, particularly in popular locations such as mature estates or near amenities like schools, public transportation and shopping malls, remains strong,” she added.
A total of 7,068 HDB resale flats changed hands in the first quarter of 2024, up 8 per cent from 6,547 units in the previous quarter.
Mr Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at property firm Huttons Asia, said a total of 2,084 five-room and larger units changed hands in the first quarter, up by 14.4 per cent from the previous quarter. The rise could be driven by former private home owners, he added.
“Nevertheless, it is 15.5 per cent lower than the transaction volume of 2,465 five-room and larger flats in the third quarter of 2022 when the (wait-out) policy was implemented,” he said.
According to HDB data, five-room flats in Kallang/Whampoa were the most expensive in the first quarter, with a median price of $924,000, up from $880,400 in the previous quarter.
This was followed by executive flats in Hougang, which had a median price of $907,500.
There were 185 million-dollar flat transactions in the first quarter of 2024.
Ms Wong said this is the highest number of million-dollar resale flats transacted in a quarter, surpassing the 133 such units in the fourth quarter of 2023. Most of them were in mature estates such as Toa Payoh, Kallang/Whampoa, Bukit Merah, Queenstown and Bishan, she added.
Mr Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at Singapore Realtors Inc, noted that these transactions remain the minority, making up about 2.7 per cent of total transactions in the first quarter. “In fact, 42.7 per cent of the resale transactions in the first quarter of 2024 occurred in the price range of $400,000 to just under $600,000,” he said.
The authorities have pledged to launch 100,000 BTO flats from 2021 to 2025. As at February 2024, more than 67,000 BTO flats have been put on the market.
HDB plans to launch about 19,600 BTO flats in 2024. In February, it offered more than 4,100 flats across seven BTO projects in Bedok, Queenstown, Choa Chu Kang, Hougang, Punggol and Woodlands.
In June, it will roll out about 6,800 BTO flats in Jurong East, Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Tampines, Woodlands and Yishun.
It advised home seekers to apply for an HDB Flat Eligibility letter by May 15, so that they can take part in the upcoming BTO exercise.
