HDB resale prices climb for 4th consecutive quarter; volume dips

Published Fri, Apr 23, 2021 · 11:14 AM

[SINGAPORE] THE Housing Board resale market remained steadily robust in the first quarter of this year amid Covid-19 vaccine optimism, as prices of resale flats rose for the fourth consecutive quarter, even as fewerflats changed hands.

The resale price index for the first three months of the year was logged at 142.2, an increase of 3 per cent over that in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to figures released by HDB on Friday.

Prices rose 8.1 per cent year-on-year.

Last quarter's HDB resale prices were just 4.8 per cent lower than their peak in the second quarter of 2013, said Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie's senior vice-president of research and analytics.

She noted that the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines around the world and anticipated global economic recovery stoked a frenzy of property-buying activities worldwide, which in turn lifted market sentiment for the HDB resale market.

The supply and demand imbalance of flats has also caused prices of HDB resale flats to climb in many locations, said Ms Sun.

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Prices for resale flats rose in 22 of the 26 HDB towns, with those in the central area clocking the highest median resale price at S$910,000 for a four-room flat. These include popular projects such as The Pinnacle @ Duxton at Cantonment Road, where a handful of five-room flats on high floors have sold for more than S$1 million in recent years.

Woodlands clocked the lowest median resale price at S$380,000 for a four-room flat, while Sembawang followed closely at S$399,000.

Demand for HDB resale flats started gaining traction in the second half of last year, after Singapore came out of a two-month-long circuit breaker period to curb the spread of the Covid-19, with resale prices steadily inching up in recent months.

However, overall resale volume dipped slightly last quarter on the back of higher resale prices and rising cash over valuation (COV).

The number of transactions fell 0.8 per cent from 7,642 units in the fourth quarter of 2020 to 7,581 units in the first quarter of this year.

Compared to the first quarter last year when 5,893 units changed hands, resale volume rose 28.6 per cent.

Ms Sun said: "Last quarter, many flats were sold with COV. Multiple offers and price bidding wars for choice flats were common as buyers were willing to shell out extra for premium flats as they believe that supply of these flats are limited especially for newer resale flats in mature estates."

Demand for rental HDB flats also rose last quarter despite rising rents, as many foreigners choose to stay put and renew their leases due to border restrictions.

The number of approved applications to rent out HDB flats rose by 26.0 per cent from 8,472 cases in the fourth quarter of last year to 10,676 cases in the first quarter of this year.

As for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, HDB will offer about 3,800 such flats in Bukit Merah, Geylang, Tengah and Woodlands next month.

In August, it will launch another 4,900 BTO flats in Hougang, Jurong East, Kallang /Whampoa, Queenstown and Tampines.

HDB said it will calibrate the supply if required, given the economic uncertainty due to Covid-19.

Ms Sun said the completion period for BTO projects in the two upcoming exercises is likely to remain long as there is a backlog of projects facing construction delays caused by the pandemic.

Current waiting time for a new BTO flat ranges from three years to five years, based on the timeline released in the previous two BTO exercises.

"The situation could be exacerbated as further construction delays may be expected as a result of new quarantine orders arising from the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases in certain dormitories," said Ms Sun.

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