SINGAPORE: Prices for Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flats edged up for the 23rd consecutive month in May even as fewer units changed hands, suggesting that demand is continuing to outstrip supply, according to flash data from real estate portals 99.co and SRX.
In May, the non-mature estate of Woodlands and Pasir Ris lodged their first million-dollar HDB resale flats.
A 189 sq m or 2,034 sq ft executive flat at Woodlands Street 83 changed hands for S$1.04mil (RM3.32mil), while a 189 sq m executive flat at Woodlands Street 81 sold for S$1.03mil (RM3.29mil).
A 189 sq m executive maisonette at Pasir Ris Street 13 changed hands for S$1.14mil (RM3.6mil)
The most expensive HDB flat till date is a S$1.4mil (RM4.47mil) deal lodged last month for a five-room 113 sq m or 1,216 sq ft HDB flat in Henderson Road with a remaining lease of around 96 years.
A total of 30 HDB resale flats changed hands for at least S$1mil (RM3.19mil) in May, an increase from the 22 such deals recorded in April. Such million-dollar flats comprise 1.4% of the total resale volume in May, the data showed.
As at Thursday, there have been at least S$145mil (RM463mil) HDB flat transactions in the whole of this year.
Last month, HDB resale prices rose 0.5%, a slower pace compared with the 1.1% seen in April, data showed.
Compared with May last year, prices are up by 11%. Price growth was observed across the board in all flat types and in both mature and non-mature estates.
However, the number of HDB flats transacted last month dropped to 2,156 units, a 5.1% decrease from April’s 2,273 units.
Analysts said demand may have been diverted by the attractive build-to-order (BTO) launches in May, which had three projects in the mature estate of Queenstown, Bukit Merah and Toa Payoh.
Last month’s sales launch also offered “sale of balance flats” which come with shorter waiting time as some were already completed while the rest were in various stages of construction.
Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at real estate firm OrangeTee & Tie, noted that more BTO flats –around 8,500 units – were launched in the first six months of this year compared with previous five years’ average of 7,000 units.
“Given the rising HDB resale prices over the past two years, cash-strapped Singaporeans may feel that they are increasingly priced out of the HDB resale market given that prices at many locations have risen by more than double digits and hit new record highs,” she said.
The launch of the prime location public housing model flats in popular mature locations such as Bukit Merah and Rochor have also given buyers more options, she added.
“As there will be more choice BTO flats to be released in the next few sales launches, price growth of HDB resale flats may slow down given the increased competition from the BTO market,” she said.
In August, about 4,900 BTO flats will be offered in towns such as Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Merah, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong East, Tampines and Woodlands, and another 9,500 BTO flats in towns such as Bukit Batok, Kallang Whampoa, Queenstown, and Yishun in November. HDB is on track to launch up to 23,000 new flats this year. — The Straits Times/ANN