resale prices of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats booked a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent in October while fewer HDB flats were transacted in the month, flash data from real estate portal SRX and property agency 99.co showed on Wednesday (Nov 6).
Property prices in the mature estates rose 0.1 per cent, while prices in non-mature estates increased by 0.5 per cent in October. The overall price increase was 9.8 per cent from the same period a year ago.
Executive flats saw the highest monthly price increase of 1.8 per cent, followed by three-room flats and five-bedders which saw price rises of 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively. Four-room flats posted a price decrease of 0.2 per cent.
Mohan Sandrasegeran, Singapore Realtors Inc’s head of research and data analytics, noted that the marginal growth in HDB resale prices in October was largely driven by rising prices for larger flat types such as executive flats.
“This segment experienced a notable 3.3 per cent increase, with average prices climbing from S$881,356 in September to approximately $910,201 in October, suggesting sustained demand for these flats amid limited supply. This reinforces the notion that buyers may be willing to pay a premium for larger, more spacious homes,” added Sandrasegeran.
Compared with the same period a year ago, prices for various flat types increased – three-room flats by 9.8 per cent, four-bedders by 10.1 per cent, five-room flats by 9.2 per cent and executive flats by 8.3 per cent.
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There were 2,158 HDB resale flats transacted in October, representing a 2.7 per cent decrease from the previous month.
Luqman Hakim, chief data and analytics officer at 99.co, said: “The HDB resale market in October faced increased competition as about 8,500 flats became available during the month’s Build-To-Order (BTO) launch. With these new flats, especially those with shorter waiting times, prospective buyers looking for immediate housing solutions may opt for BTO options instead of relying solely on completed resale flats in the secondary market. If this trend continues with future BTO launches, it could dampen demand and slow the growth of resale prices over time.”
In addition, the latest BTO sales launch has also drawn many singles away from the resale market, as they can now purchase new two-room flats across the island, said OrangeTee Group’s chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun. “Moreover, resale prices are still high, impacting some buyers’ affordability.”
Although resale flats transactions were down in October, ERA Singapore’s head of research and market intelligence Wong Shanting expects unsuccessful applicants for the October’s BTO launch to return to the resale market after the year-end festivities.
“The market remains buoyed by buyers looking to avoid the longer minimum occupation period associated with new BTO flats, as well as HDB upgraders seeking larger, centrally located homes – many of whom find themselves priced out of similar-sized private properties,” said Wong.
About 60.9 per cent of resale volumes for the month came from non-mature estates, with the remaining 39.1 per cent from mature estates.
By room type, 42.7 per cent of October’s sales volume came from four-room flats, followed by three-roomers (27.1 per cent), five-roomers (23.5 per cent) and executive flats (6.6 per cent).
The top-transacted price for a resale flat in October was S$1.54 million for a five-room flat at Pinnacle@ Duxton in Cantonment Road. Within non-mature estates, a 1,900 square foot executive flat in Woodlands Street 82 changed hands for S$1.16 million.
Some 103 flats sold for a million dollars or more each in October, accounting for 4.8 per cent of the total resale volume for the month. Toa Payoh saw 18 million-dollar resale flat transactions, followed by 15 such transactions in Kallang-Whampoa. Bukit Merah and Queenstown saw 13 and 12 such transactions, respectively.
Wong Siew Ying, PropNex’s head of research and content, said: “In the first 10 months of 2024, there were 853 units of million-dollar resale flats – doubling the record 469 units of million-dollar flats resold in the whole of 2023.”
Mark Yip, chief executive officer of Huttons Asia, noted that the number of million-dollar flats may have stabilised in October.
“The number of million-dollar flats is likely to exceed 1,000 and reach 3 per cent to 4 per cent of total market volume,” he estimated. “The interest rate is beginning to trend downwards and it may lead to more demand for HDB resale flats. Prices may continue to increase in the coming months”.
Huttons Asia expects HDB resale volume to be between 29,000 and 30,000 for 2024. Prices of resale flats are forecast to grow between 8 and 10 per cent in 2024, the agency said.
