FEWER Housing Board flats changed hands in the first three months of the year compared with the last quarter of 2018, falling 14.2 per cent to 4,835 cases.

Compared with the same period at the start of last year, however, the number of transactions was still 8.5 per cent higher.

Resale prices of HDB flats fell by 0.3 per cent on a quarterly basis, according to figures released by the Housing Board on Friday.

As for the HDB rental market, the number of approved applications to rent out HDB flats rose by 2.6 per cent, from 11,479 cases in the fourth quarter of 2018 to 11,775 cases in the first three months of 2019.

Compared with the first three months of last year, the number of approved applications was 0.5 per cent higher.

As at March 31, there were 57,764 HDB flats that had been rented out - an increase of 1.8 per cent over the fourth quarter of 2018, at 56,742 units.

Next month, the HDB will offer about 3,400 Build-To-Order flats in Kallang/Whampoa, Tengah and Woodlands. There will also be a concurrent Sale of Balance Flats exercise.

THE STRAITS TIMES