SINGAPORE - Prices of Housing Board resale flats inched up by 0.6 per cent in December, a slight increase from November’s 0.4 per cent.

Prices were up 5.8 per cent year on year, slower than the 8.8 per cent growth in 2022, based on flash data from real estate portals 99.co and SRX on Jan 8.

A record 470 flats were sold for at least $1 million each in 2023, with 48 of these changing hands in December.

However, property analysts said the slower rate of price growth in 2023 was an indication of stabilising prices.

Ms Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at real estate firm OrangeTee & Tie, said December was the eighth consecutive month in which monthly resale prices either rose or dipped by less than 1 per cent. In September, prices had declined 0.6 per cent.

ERA Singapore key executive officer Eugene Lim said high interest rates and rising retrenchment numbers amid a softer economic outlook have caused some home owners to delay their upgrading plans.

“Middle-aged HDB owners are the most affected since they qualify for a shorter loan tenure due to their age, so some are reconsidering their home upgrading plans,” he added.

Fewer resale flats were sold in December, with the number falling by 6.2 per cent to an estimated 2,006 units from 2,138 units in November, data showed.

Compared with December 2022, transactions were down by 10.5 per cent.

Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip said the Build-To-Order (BTO) launch in December 2023, which offered more than 6,000 flats, could have shifted demand from the resale market.

In particular, Sin Ming Residences in Bishan, which had the shortest wait at about two years and eight months, attracted nearly 2,500 applicants for the 732 units available, he noted.

Resale prices increased across all flat types in mature and non-mature estates, with prices of four-room flats climbing the most, by 1 per cent.

The 470 flats sold for at least $1 million each in 2023 is about 27 per cent higher than 2022’s record of 369 million-dollar flat transactions, analysts said. Such flats accounted for 1.8 per cent of HDB resale transactions in 2023, said PropNex chief executive Ismail Gafoor.

The mature town of Ang Mo Kio recorded seven million-dollar transactions in December, while Kallang/Whampoa lodged six. The rest were in Bukit Merah, Queenstown, Toa Payoh, the central area, Clementi, Bishan, Bukit Timah, Woodlands, Serangoon, Jurong East and Geylang.

The most expensive resale flat in December was a 105 sq m five-room unit between the 28th and 30th storeys at The Pinnacle@Duxton in Cantonment Road, which sold for $1.42 million.

The highest transacted price in a non-mature town was $1.038 million for a 192 sq m executive apartment in Woodlands Street 81.

Mr Gafoor expects the number of million-dollar flat transactions to remain elevated in 2024, propped up by buyers such as those seeking larger flats in more central locations, as well as former private home owners who have served their 15-month wait-out period – a temporary measure implemented in September 2022 to cool the resale market.

Buyers looking for flats without significant restrictions on resale in attractive locations are also expected to contribute to the million-dollar transactions in 2024, he added.

From the October 2024 BTO launch, flats 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 and subsidy clawback.

“Some prospective buyers may not be keen on the tighter rules, and could opt to buy resale flats in attractive locations instead – as existing resale flats are not affected by the new classification framework,” Mr Gafoor said.

Mr Yip noted that the first wave of private property owners affected by the 15-month wait-out period will enter the market in January, but he does not expect them to have a significant impact on resale prices.

“We do not expect the volume to be significant as a good portion of them had successfully appealed or bought smaller resale flats,” he said.

Ms Sun said she expects resale prices to grow “modestly” at a rate of 3 per cent to 5 per cent in 2024.