SINGAPORE – Prices of Housing Board resale flats saw slower growth in February 2024 as fewer flats were sold.

Resale prices rose marginally by 0.5 per cent, compared with the 1.5 per cent growth seen in January, according to flash data released by real estate portals 99.co and SRX on March 4.

Compared with January, three-room flats had the highest price increase of 0.9 per cent, followed by 0.7 per cent for executive flats and 0.6 per cent for four-room flats, while prices of five-room flats dipped by 0.4 per cent.

When compared with the previous year, five-room resale flats recorded the highest price increase of 7 per cent, followed by four-room flats at 6.3 per cent, executive units at 6.2 per cent and three-room flats at 5.4 per cent. 

Analysts expect resale prices to continue to rise and demand to pick up in the coming months.

Demand is expected to be partly driven by more private home owners having fulfilled the 15-month wait-out period to buy a flat, they said.

Since Sept 30, 2022, private home owners must wait 15 months after the sale of their home before they can buy an HDB resale flat. The rule does not apply to those aged 55 and above who are moving from their private property to a four-room or smaller resale flat.

Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at property firm OrangeTee Group, noted that resale prices rose for the fifth consecutive month in February, albeit at a slower pace than in January.

“As the upcoming BTO (Build-To-Order) sales launch will take place four months later instead of three months, we anticipate more first-timers, especially those in need of immediate housing, to turn to the resale market,” said Ms Sun.

In February, 2,134 flats changed hands, representing an 18.8 per cent drop in units sold from January. However, the number of resale units transacted is still 15.4 per cent higher than in the same month a year ago.

Analysts attributed the lower volume to the Chinese New Year festivities and BTO launch that month.

PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying noted that non-mature estates accounted for about 64 per cent of the transactions during the month, with Punggol, Jurong West and Woodlands leading sales.

She also pointed out that HDB launched 4,126 new flats across seven BTO projects for sale in February, with over 80 per cent of the BTO flats offered having a shorter waiting time of less than 3½ years compared with a waiting time of four to five years previously.

These shorter waiting times could have made BTO flats more attractive to some buyers, who want a brand-new flat but do not wish to wait too long to get the keys to their new home, said Ms Wong.

Of the total number of flats resold in February, 2.3 per cent, or 50 units, were transacted for at least $1 million, compared with a record-breaking 74 units in January.

Half of the million-dollar flats resold in February span 1,292 sq ft or larger, while 44 per cent of the 50 flats are located on the 19th storey or higher, said Ms Wong.

The most expensive resale flat sold was an executive flat in Bishan, which fetched $1.48 million.

Queenstown recorded nine units of million-dollar flats transacted in February, followed by Toa Payoh, with six such units sold.

The rest of the million-dollar flats came from Kallang/Whampoa, Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Merah, Bukit Timah, Clementi, Bishan, Central Area, Serangoon, Woodlands, Geylang, Hougang and Bedok.

Within non-mature estates, the highest price was $1 million for an executive flat in Hougang Central.

ERA Singapore’s key executive officer Eugene Lim anticipates that some resale flats in the mature estates may eventually cross the $1.5 million price tag, given the scarcity of such flats.

Mr Lim said some flat owners have been asking for higher prices, such as the owner of an executive flat in Bishan who is asking for $1.8 million, while another owner of an executive flat in Toh Yi is asking for $1.6 million.