SINGAPORE - Resale transactions for Housing Board flats rose by 7.8 per cent for the whole of 2016, increasing from 19,306 cases in 2015 to 20,813 cases.

This is despite the number of resale transactions falling 9.1 per cent, from 5,514 cases in third quarter to 5,012 cases in fourth quarter of 2016, according to a HDB release on Thursday (Jan 26).

Resale prices for HDB flats fell slightly by at 0.1 per cent for the whole year of last year, compared to a year ago.

This year, HDB will offer about 17,000 new flats for sale in Build-To-Order (BTO) exercises.

For first BTO exercise, to be launched in February, HDB will offer about 4,100 flats in Clementi, Punggol, Tampines and Woodlands.

The number of applications approved for subletting of HDB flats also fell by 1 per cent, from 10,789 cases in the third quarter of 2016 to 10,678 cases in fourth quarter.

As of Dec 31 last year, 52,941 HDB flats were sublet, which is an increase of 1 per cent from 52,394 units in the third quarter.