Prices for Housing Board resale flats rose for the eighth month in a row in May, as prices climbed upwards by 0.3 percent and higher units sold.
According to data flashed out by real estate websites Singapore Real Estate Exchange and 99.co on June 5, the rise was lower than the 0.9 percent recorded in April. The year-over-year rate rose by 6 per cent.
An estimated 2,513 HDB units changed hands in May – an increase of 5.3 percent increase over the 2,387 units resold in April.
In May, 74 flats bought for more than $1 million were registered. This is similar to the previous record in January.
The resistance of the public housing resale markets to home buyers who failed to secure a house during February’s Build-to-Order exercise (BTO) as well as homeowners who put their houses for sale because of a price spike.
The results of February’s BTO exercise and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) launch were announced in the first week of April, and at the end of April, respectively.
SBF launches permit applicants to apply for any remaining flats that were sold in earlier BTO sales.
If they’re unable to find a home for the immediate time frame, and have tried both methods and have not been able to find a place to live for the time being, many are looking at resales of options for housing. This may result in an increase in the cost of resales and volumes.
The absence of BTO launches, as well as an increase in the number of units available led to more units being sold.
An increased need for bigger units may be a contributing element.
176 executive flats were resold in May, the most amount since September 2022, when the 15-month waiting time for private property owners purchasing HDB flats for resale was phased out.
40,1% of the 327 million dollar resale deals from January to May 2024 contained five-room apartments. This indicates a need for larger homes.
Of the 74 million-dollar resale flats sold in May 33 of them were five-room units. 22 of them executive flats and 18 flats with four rooms and one flat was a three-room terraced flat.
A large portion of these flats were in mature estates such as Kallang/Whampoa Bukit Merah Toa Payoh, and Queenstown Six were in non-mature towns Jurong East, Bukit Batok, Yishun and Hougang.
The 74 flats for resales sold made up 2.9 percent of the total sales in May, which is in line with the figures of April.
The higher percentage of flats that sold at more than $1 million could be indicative of future buyers who are looking for homes with no limitations on resales. They could be in high demand.
Five-room, 106 square m apartment between the 39th and 37th floors located at Pinnacle@Duxton Cantonment Road changed hands for $1,515,000, which makes it the most expensive HDB flat resold during May.
The demand for resale apartments is expected to remain steady as former homeowners who are turning into the market to sell their homes and buyers with urgent housing needs.
The people who prefer centrally located areas but don’t want to be subject to the stricter conditions of the new classification system may be a factor in the demand for flats that are resold.
The location of all BTO apartments launched in the second quarter of 2024 will determine whether they are classified as Prime, Standard or Plus. Prime flats, located situated in prime places close to the city central area, will have the strictest limitations.
There is a possibility of a moderated trend in the HDB resale market in June as the BTO exercise will then be the final one before the launch of the new classification system as well as due to the school holidays.
Homebuyers might be keen to look into the BTO flat options that were announced in June as they may be interested in taking advantage of them before the October BTO exercise, which will allow the use of the current classification.