HDB resale prices continue upward trend in April as sales volumes flatten: SRX, 99.co

RESALE prices of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats continued to rise for the 22nd straight month in April, while volumes inched up from the month before, according to flash estimates from property portal SRX and 99.co released on Thursday (May 5).

HDB resale prices saw gains across all flat types and locations. Overall prices rose 1.1 per cent in April month on month and 11.9 per cent on the year. Prices had risen 0.7% in March from February.

Mature estate flats saw resale prices rise 1 per cent, while non-mature flats were up 1.2 per cent, compared to the month before. Year on year, mature and non-mature estate flat resale prices were up 9.8 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively.

By flat type, 3-room and 4-room resale prices rose 1.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively; while 5-room and executive flats each gained 0.9 per cent on the month. On a yearly basis, prices were up 13.2 per cent for 3-room flats, 12.2 per cent for 4-room flats, 11.7 per cent for 5-room flats and 11.9 per cent for executive flats.

Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie’s senior vice-president of research and analytics, said: “It is anomalous for prices to rise continuously for almost 2 years and the rising flat prices may constrain cash-strapped buyers.”

Meanwhile, HDB resale volumes advanced just slightly in April, rising 0.2 per cent from March to 2,273 HDB resale transactions. However, volumes were 2.9 per cent lower year on year.

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More than half, or 57.7 per cent, of HDB resale flat deals, were for non-mature estate flats, while 42.3 per cent were from mature estate flats.

About 43.7 per cent of resale volume was for 4-room flats, followed by 25.6 per cent for 5-room flats, 21.8 per cent for 3-room flats and 7.4 per cent for executive flats. The remaining resale volume was from 2-room flats.

The stabilisation of resale volume in March and April was partly due to the steady supply of build-to-order (BTO) flats, including the launch of BTO projects in popular locations, said Nicholas Mak, ERA Realty head of research and consultancy.

“The subtle message from the government appears to be that there will be ample supply of new HDB flats including those in popular locations near to the city area,” Mak noted, adding that this could have caused some HDB homebuyers to consider applying for BTO flats instead of rushing to buy resale flats.

The most expensive HDB flat resold was S$1.228 million for a 5-room unit at Pinnacle@Duxton, SRX and 99.co data showed. 

Another 4-room flat at the same project was resold for the same price, surpassing the previous record set in March, where another 4-room flat in the same block, but on a higher floor, was resold for S$1.21 million. 

Meanwhile, the highest transacted price for a non-mature estate flat was S$958,888 for an executive apartment unit at Woodlands Street 82.

PropNex Realty chief executive Ismail Gafoor expects the number of million-dollar HDB resale flats to be tempered in the following months as market sentiment is being reined in by economic uncertainties arising from the ongoing Ukraine-Russian war, as well as rising inflation and interest rate hikes.

The number of million-dollar HDB flats transacted fell to 22 units in April, from 27 units in March. These transactions represented 1 per cent of the total resale volume for the month.

ERA’s Mak said this could be due to the effects of the latest round of cooling measures which include lowering the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for loans granted by HDB.

A lower LTV ratio would reduce the financing to homebuyers who are stretching themselves financially to buy the more expensive HDB flats, in turn lowering their homebuying budgets to acquire expensive HDB flats like the million-dollar ones, he added.

The Central Area and Clementi recorded 5 transactions of million-dollar flats each, followed by Bukit Merah with 4 million-dollar flats resold. The rest of the million-dollar flats were from Serangoon, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio and Bishan.