Q1 HDB resale prices increase in Q1
From the October exercise, BTO units in choicer locations will fall under the Prime and Plus categories, which come with stricter terms for resales, like a minimum 10-year occupation time and an incentive clawback
HDB the resale market is stabilising and resales prices increased by 4.9 per cent in 2023, lower than the 10.4 per cent increase in 2022 and 12.7 percent increase in 2021.
Housing Board resale prices rose by 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024. This is a faster pace of growth than the previous quarter’s 1.1 percent.
This marks the 16th consecutive quarter of price hikes from the second quarter of the year 2020, as per estimates for flash releases by HDB on April 1st.
Overall 2.8 per cent price growth registered over the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 is the same as the total growth over the second and third quarters of 2023.
Given the uncertain economic outlook, and the high interest rates on mortgages, it is important that buyers be cautious when buying a new home.
Analysts from the property industry noted that the first group of private home owners who have completed the 15-month waiting period for selling their houses have been able to buy HDB flats for resales starting in January 2024.
The wait-out period is a temporary measure that will roll out in September 2022 to reduce the demand for resales.
The buyers in this group could have driven stronger demand for bigger units and resulted in more flats being sold above the million-dollar mark, pushing prices up.
Five-room and larger HDB flats sold during the first quarter of 2024 was 10 per cent more than the previous quarter.
The total of 185 flats were sold at least $1 million in the first quarter of 2024.
It is the most amount of flats that have a value of a million dollars that were transacted on a monthly basis, with record-breaking 74 deals in January. Flats of this type are a minority and only accounted for 2.7 percent of all transactions over the initial three months.
In total, 6,928 HDB flats for resales changed hands during the first quarter of 2024, up 5.5 percent from the same period in 2023, which saw the sale of 6,567 units.
The rise to more first-time buyers who choose to buy flats for resales due to less frequent Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercises.
Rarely do sales for the first quarter surpass those from the previous quarter. Sales tend to be slow in the initial quarter due to Chinese New Year celebrations and school holidays.
BTO flats will be sold in three phases starting 2024. These will take place in February, June, and in October. This is a reduction from the four launches a year.
Sale of Balance Flats, an exercise that allows applicants to submit applications for flats that were left from previous BTO sales, will be held once a year. Such launches previously took place once a year.
The launch of 2024 was the only launch to be held in February.
From 2021-2025, the authorities have committed to the launch of 100,000 BTO flats. As at February 2024, more than 67,000 BTO flats were launched.
HDB plans to launch around 19,600 BTO homes in 2024. In February, HDB provided over 4,100 flats in seven BTO projects in Bedok, Queenstown and Choa Chu Kang.
It will launch 6,800 BTO flats by the end of June in Jurong East, as well as other areas like Queenstown/Tampines, Woodlands, Yishun, Kallang/Whampoa.
The government has recommended that home buyers should submit an application for an HDB flat eligibility letter before May 15 to be able to take part in the BTO.
BTO debuts in June and could be a draw for buyers from the resales sector as flats are expected to be offered in hot spots like Tanjong Rhu or Holland Village.
This will be the last sale launch before the reclassifications of flats as Standard, Plus, or Prime.
