HDB resale prices up 2.5% in Q3, with more flats sold
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Flash data on Oct 1 showed a 2.5 per cent increase in HDB flat resale prices in the third quarter of 2024.
ST PHOTO : SHINTARO TAY
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SINGAPORE – Prices of Housing Board resale flats rose 2.5 per cent from July to September, a slightly faster clip than the 2.3 per cent growth logged in the second quarter of 2024.
Flash data released by HDB on Oct 1 showed that resale prices have risen continuously on a quarterly basis since the second quarter of 2020.
HDB data also showed that a total of 8,035 resale flats were sold in the third quarter of 2024, up from 7,352 in the second quarter.
The number of flats sold is also 20 per cent higher than the 6,695 that changed hands during the same period in 2023.
HDB said the increase in resale prices and volume was driven by strong broad-based demand and tighter market supply as fewer new flats met the minimum occupation period (MOP) in 2024 compared with 2023.
The latest data comes as a record 328 resale flats crossed the million-dollar mark in the third quarter of 2024, said Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at property firm OrangeTee Group.
This took the total number of such transactions in the first three quarters of 2024 to 747, surpassing the 469 such units sold in the whole of 2023, she said.
She added that the rise in HDB resale prices in the latest quarter was the biggest increase since the third quarter of 2022, when resale prices rose by 2.6 per cent.
The proportion of million-dollar resale flat transactions has grown
Ms Sun said the increased demand for HDB resale flats could stem from more home owners upgrading from smaller resale flats to larger ones while private property prices remain high.
More private home owners may also have opted to purchase resale flats because of their affordability, she added.
“Resale volume may drop slightly in the final quarter of this year as sales activities usually taper down during the year-end holidays,” she said.
Ms Sun added that some buyers may also be drawn to the October Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise, where some 8,500 flats – some in good locations – will be launched for sale.
Flats launched in the October BTO exercise
The October sales exercise will be the first to use the new Prime, Plus and Standard classification model, replacing the current categorisation of estates as either mature or non-mature.
ERA key executive officer Eugene Lim said the tighter resale restrictions for Prime and Plus flats under the new classification – such as a longer MOP of 10 years and subsidy clawback upon the first sale – could drive more home buyers towards the resale market.
HDB said in its statement that it is processing HDB Flat Eligibility applications received before Sept 16 from buyers keen on participating in the October BTO sales exercise.
With HDB resale volume rising in the third quarter, the number of resale flats sold by the end of 2024 could outstrip the number of units sold in 2022 and 2023, said Ms Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex.
She projected that some 28,500 to 29,500 resale units could change hands by the end of the year, up from 26,735 in 2023.
Mr Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at Singapore Realtors, said the increase in HDB resale prices could be due to the growing proportion of transactions involving larger flat types, particularly four-room and five-room flats that have seen a steady rise in demand.
Growing demand for newer flats could be another factor, with flats that have leases starting from 2013 seeing higher price gains, he added, citing a 3.7 per cent increase in the average prices of four-room resale flats with leases starting in 2013 between the second and third quarters of 2024.
HDB said the latest figures reflect market conditions prior to its latest round of cooling measures announced in August, when it reduced the loan-to-value limit of HDB loans from 80 per cent to 75 per cent.
