RESALE volumes of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats rebounded in April, snapping two months of decline, based on flash estimates from SRX and 99.co.
This came as the reduction in Build-To-Order (BTO) launches decreased the supply of new flats, driving some homebuyers to turn to the resale market, said property analysts from Huttons and OrangeTee.
Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip suggested that the numbers could be the result of a seasonal effect, as the second and third quarters of the year tend to have more transactions.
The data, released on Monday (May 6), showed volumes rising 15.7 per cent to 2,387 HDB resale flats transacted in April from the month before. Year on year, volumes were up 9 per cent.
The uptick in demand supported resale prices, which climbed for the seventh straight month. Prices were up 0.9 per cent in April and 6 per cent on the year.
OrangeTee Group chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun said: “The increased grants available for first-time buyers have improved affordability and made it easier for them to purchase a resale flat.” An upturn in the global economy could also have encouraged prospective homebuyers, she added.
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Prices rose across flats in both mature and non-mature estates, up 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent on the month, respectively. Year on year, resale flat prices in mature estates were up 5.9 per cent and were 5.6 per cent higher in non-mature estates.
Most room types registered price gains. Prices of executive flats rose the most, at 2.3 per cent, followed by three-room and four-room flats, which climbed 1.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively. Resale prices of five-room flats, however, inched down 0.3 per cent.
Year on year, four-room flats were the top gainers in terms of pricing, rising 7.1 per cent. This was followed by three-room flats, which advanced 6.2 per cent, and executive flats, which were up 5.7 per cent. Five-room flat resale prices were 4.5 per cent higher on the year.
Less than two-thirds (62.1 per cent) of resale volumes were for flats located in non-mature estates, while the remaining 37.9 per cent were from mature estates. By room type, 45.1 per cent of volumes were attributed to four-room flats, followed by 25.7 per cent from three-room flats, 23.4 per cent from five-room flats and 5.8 per cent from executive flats.
The most expensive HDB flat resold in the month was a five-room unit in Lorong 1A Toa Payoh; it went for S$1.438 million. In non-mature estates, the highest transacted price was S$1.088 million for an executive flat at Toh Guan Road.
The number of HDB flats resold for at least S$1 million rose to 68 units in April, up from the 61 units recorded in March. These flats comprised 2.8 per cent of total resale volumes in the month.
Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at Mogul.sg, attributed the uptick in million-dollar deals to private property owners who fulfilled their 15-month wait-out period rule and entered the secondary market in April. Another possible reason is flat sellers raising their asking prices for their flats, especially those that are near MRT stations and new (under 10 years old).
“There was a recent report of a flat owner asking for S$2 million for his HDB flat; there was another HDB resale flat that was reportedly sold at a new record price of S$1.65 million. Such reports fuel the rising expectations of HDB resale flat sellers. They also contribute to the mindset that HDB flats are more of an investment than a home,” he added.
Kallang-Whampoa netted the most million-dollar flat transactions, with 15 such units changing hands. This was followed by Toa Payoh and Bukit Merah, each of which recorded nine transactions.
Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, noted that of the 15 resold units in Kallang-Whampoa, 11 were four-room units in St George’s Towers, which sits near the Boon Keng MRT station.
“It is likely that the sellers had recently fulfilled their five-year minimum occupation period; the flats in St George’s Towers still have a balance lease of about 95 years,” she said.
