SINGAPORE - The Housing Board will offer more than 5,500 balance flats for sale in February 2025 – the largest exercise for these flats to date, even as prices continue to rise in the resale market for an 18th consecutive quarter.
About four in 10 units in the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) launch will be those that are already completed, with the remaining flats to be completed progressively from 2025 to 2028, HDB said on Oct 25.
Meanwhile, in the resale market, prices of HDB resale flats rose 2.7 per cent from July to September, which is a quicker pace than the 2.3 per cent growth in the previous quarter, according to data released by HDB.
A total of 8,142 HDB resale flats changed hands in the same period, up 10.7 per cent from 7,352 units in the previous quarter.
There were 331 million-dollar flat transactions in the third quarter of 2024, accounting for 4.1 per cent of total transactions.
This is higher than the previous quarter when there were 236 such transactions, which made up 3.2 per cent of resale purchases then.
HDB attributed the increase in resale prices and transactions to strong broad-based demand and supply tightness in the market, as fewer new flats would meet their minimum occupation period (MOP) in 2024, compared with the year before.
It added that the “vast majority” of resale flat transactions in the third quarter of 2024 were sold for “much lower” than $1 million. Resale flats that were sold for $1 million and above continued to make up a small proportion of total resale transactions.
Ms Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, noted that the number of resale transactions in the third quarter is the highest in a quarter in three years.
“We have not seen such vibrant HDB resale market activity since 2021, when demand surged amid Covid-19 recovery optimism and delays in completion times drove buyers to the secondary market,” she said.
Factors such as demand outpacing the stock of resale flats and buyers willing to pay a premium for well-located flats could have contributed to the price growth in the first nine months of 2024, she added.
According to HDB data, five-room flats in Bishan were the most expensive in the third quarter, with a median price of $989,900, up from $960,000 in the previous quarter.
This was followed by executive flats in Serangoon, which had a median price of $985,000.
Mr Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at real estate firm Huttons Asia, said the latest data reflected the highest number of million-dollar resale flats transacted in a quarter to date. Most of them were in estates such as Kallang/Whampoa, Bukit Merah, Queenstown, Bishan and Toa Payoh, he added.
From January to September, analysts estimate that 750 resale flats were sold for at least $1 million, about 60 per cent higher than the 469 million-dollar transactions recorded in the whole of 2023.
Mr Eugene Lim, key executive officer of real estate agency ERA Singapore, said that the firm demand for million-dollar flats could be attributed to HDB flat owners who have opted to upgrade to a newer, larger and centrally located flat, rather than a condominium.
“With the rising prices of private homes, they see the value proposition and are willing to pay for these cream-of-the-crop resale flats,” he said.
HDB said the latest quarterly figures largely reflect market conditions before the cooling measure implemented on Aug 20, which tightened the loan-to-value limit for HDB loans from 80 per cent to 75 per cent.
“The Government will continue to monitor the property market closely and adjust its policies as necessary to promote a stable and sustainable property market,” it said.
It advised people to be financially prudent in their flat purchases as the property market moves in cycles and “those who buy high will be hit harder when prices eventually come down”.
In February’s sales exercise, about 5,000 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats will be launched in Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Woodlands and Yishun – so there will be more than 10,000 BTO and balance flats put up for sale.
HDB advised home seekers to apply for an HDB Flat Eligibility letter by Dec 15 so that they can take part in the upcoming sales exercise.