SINGAPORE – Prices of Housing Board resale flats climbed 0.4 per cent in November, and fewer units were sold amid the year-end school holiday lull.
HDB resale flat prices rose for the second consecutive month, following a decline in September, based on flash data from real estate portals 99.co and SRX on Dec 7. Prices were up 5.4 per cent year on year.
The number of resale flats sold in November fell by 2.8 per cent to an estimated 2,138 units, in contrast with the 10.8 per cent increase in October. Property analysts attributed the slowdown in transactions to the Build-To-Order (BTO) launches in October and December, which offered a combined total of more than 12,800 units.
Ms Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at real estate firm OrangeTee & Tie, said many of the BTO flats put up for sale have attractive qualities, such as being situated beside MRT stations or amenities.
“The wait times for the new flats have also been shortened, and serious buyers now have a higher chance of getting a unit,” she said.
Some HDB upgraders could have opted for newly completed condominiums instead of bigger resale flats, Ms Sun added.
She noted that prices of resale flats, especially larger units, have risen substantially over the past two years. “This has made buying a new condo more attractive than buying a bigger resale flat.”
ERA Singapore’s key executive officer Eugene Lim said the mismatched price expectations between sellers and buyers, as well as concerns over job stability, could also have led to fewer transactions.
Forty-five flats changed hands for at least $1 million each in November, taking the total number of million-dollar transactions so far in 2023 to 422. This breaks 2022’s record of 369 million-dollar flat transactions, analysts said.
The mature town of Bukit Merah recorded nine million-dollar transactions, while Kallang/Whampoa lodged six. The rest were in Ang Mo Kio, Queenstown, Bishan, Toa Payoh, Clementi, Bukit Batok, the central area, Serangoon, Woodlands, Geylang, Hougang and Bedok.
The most expensive resale flat was a 113 sq m five-room unit between the 31st and 33rd storeys of City Vue @ Henderson in Bukit Merah, which sold for $1.46 million.
PropNex Realty head of research and content Wong Siew Ying noted that of the seven units sold in November at the development – a Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme replacement site – four changed hands for at least $1 million. The number of resale transactions there rose from September to November, with 16 deals lodged, compared with 19 spread across the first eight months of 2023, she said.
Ms Wong said the reclassification of HDB flats, announced in August, could have enhanced the appeal of existing resale flats in good locations such as City Vue @ Henderson, which is a 10-minute walk from Tiong Bahru MRT station.
From the second half of 2024, BTO units in choicer locations will fall under the Prime and Plus categories, which come with stricter resale conditions such as a 10-year minimum occupation period.
Flats in Bukit Merah are likely to fall under the Prime and Plus categories, analysts said.
“In addition, most of the BTO launches in the central area and city fringe do not offer five-room flats, keeping resale demand for such flats firm,” Ms Wong added.
The highest transacted price in a non-mature town was $1.04 million for a 141 sq m executive apartment in Hougang Street 31. Across flat types, prices of four-room units climbed the most, by 0.3 per cent, while five-room flat prices fell by 0.8 per cent.
Mr Lim said that demand for three- and four-room flats remains resilient, noting that they make up 71 per cent of total resale transactions while demand for five-room and larger flats continues to taper due to the higher price quantum.
Private property owners are also subject to a 15-month wait-out period before they can buy a resale flat, after cooling measures were implemented in September 2022, he noted.
