SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) reported an acceleration in resale-price growth for the third quarter of 2024, with prices increasing by 2.5% compared to a 2.3% rise in the previous quarter.
This growth marks a significant increase from the 1.3% recorded in the same period last year, as indicated by HDB’s flash estimates released on 1 October.
Transaction volumes of resale flats also showed robust performance, reaching 8,035 units sold as of 29 September. This figure represents a 20% increase from the same period last year and a notable rise from the 7,352 units sold in Q2.
Despite the rise in prices and volumes, million-dollar transactions continued to make up a small proportion of total resales, with the majority of flats being transacted at “much lower prices,” according to HDB.
The agency attributed the surge in both resale prices and transaction volumes to “strong broad-based demand,” coupled with a tightening supply in the market.
Fewer new flats have met the minimum occupation period this year compared to the previous year.
HDB noted that these trends reflect market conditions prior to the recent policy change that lowered the loan-to-value limit for HDB loans from 80% to 75%, effective 20 August.
This move aims to cool the resale market and encourage greater financial prudence among homebuyers.
“The government will continue to monitor the property market closely and adjust its policies as necessary to promote a stable and sustainable property market,” HDB stated.
It also urged households to exercise caution in their property purchases, warning that the cyclical nature of the market means those who buy at high prices may face greater challenges when prices eventually decline.
Since the beginning of the year, HDB resale prices have risen by 6.8%, a faster pace than the 3.8% increase observed during the same timeframe last year.
However, this growth rate still lags behind the 8% spike recorded in the first three quarters of 2022.
Looking ahead, HDB is set to offer approximately 8,500 flats across 15 Build-to-Order (BTO) projects in its October 2024 BTO exercise, which is the final exercise scheduled for the year.
This offering will account for 40% of the total BTO flats supplied this year.
The October BTO exercise will also introduce a new classification of HDB flats into Standard, Plus, or Prime categories based on their location attributes.
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