Singapore’s HDB resale market performs strongly in February

The resale market achieves monthly record from last month’s Chinese New Year festivities 

In Singapore, the Housing and Development Board’s resale market performs strongly as it makes a monthly record sale of SGD23 million (USD 17 million) in February and prices increased for the eighth straight month, reported the Business Times.  

Data from PropertyGuru revealed that around 22 percent of Singaporeans live in 4-bedroom HDBs, followed by 16 percent and 9 percent for 5- and 3-bedroom HDBs, respectively. 

About one percent of the total number of units resold were comprised of flats that went for at least SGD1 million. Toh Yi Drive, an executive maisonette, was the highest transacted resale flat for SGD1.21 million.  

Meanwhile, the highest transacted price in non-mature estates was SGD890,000 for an executive premium maisonette at Choa Chu Kang Street 64.  

Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, said that six of the million-dollar units were from the Pinnacle@Duxton, while four were Design, Build, and Sell Scheme (DBSS) units at The Peak@Toa Payoh.  

For the overall HDB resale market, 2,165 units were sold in February, 13.4 percent less than January, but 29.8 percent higher than a year ago.  

Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content, noted that the resale market performed well last month due to Chinese New Year and will probably continue to take a breather.  

Sun said that tight supply, high demand, and recovering market sentiment may induce HDB resale prices to rise.  

“Many young couples have also turned to the resale market as many were either unsuccessful in recent BTO (Build-To-Order) launches or could not with more than five years for the completion of new BTO flats. Further, demand may have been pushed up by Singaporeans downgrading from private condominiums,” she mentioned.  

Wong added that “generally, resale flats in the suburban areas tend to enjoy keen buying interest compared with those located closer to the city owing to their more affordable prices.”  

Wong anticipates HDB resale prices to remain buoyant for the rest of the year, possibly growing by three to five percent.

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Demand will be propelled by a supply of newer resale flats entering the market following their five-year Minimum Occupation Period, including BTO applications that shift to the resale market as they are put off by oversubscription of attractive BTO projects and delayed BTO completions.  

Nicholas Mak, ERA Realty head of research and consultancy, said homebuyers might be hurrying to purchase resale flats as they expect property cooling measures.  

“The Singapore government recently issued warnings that it is keeping a close watch on the market to ensure sustainable prices. Some HDB flat buyers may be concerned that any introduction of additional cooling measures, even if they are targeted at the private residential property market, could have a negative spillover impact on the HDB residential market,” he said.