Monthly HDB Resale Volume Eased To Slowest In 4 Months In June 2023

By Wong Siew Ying

The HDB resale market was a lot less lively in June, with monthly sales easing to 1,859 units. Transaction data showed that June’s resale volume was down by about 17% month-on-month from 2,251 units in May, and was about 13% lower on a year-on-year basis from 2,135 flats resold in June 2022.

One reason for the slower sales could be due to the June school holidays – which typically lead to quieter market activity - as some buyers and sellers may be travelling. Meanwhile, the limited supply of resale flats available and a mismatch in price expectations could also influence resale transactions during the month.

Notwithstanding the decline in resale volume, the overall average price of HDB resale flats inched up by 0.7% MOM to nearly $574,057 in June (Chart 1). On a YOY basis, the average price was up by about 3% from June 2022.

Meanwhile, by flat type, the overall average transacted prices for 3-room, and 5-room flats rose marginally by 1.0% and 0.8% MOM respectively in June. In contrast, the 4-room flats and executive flats segment saw a 0.1% and 1.6% MOM decline in average resale price respectively from May to June (see Table 1).

Analysing the data by towns and flat types, the average prices of larger flats (5-room and executive flats) appeared to be more sluggish, compared to smaller flat types. The average prices of executive flats fell by 0.6% and 2.2% MOM in mature towns and non-mature estates respectively in June. Five-room flats in mature towns witnessed a 0.7% MOM decline in average resale price, while that of non-mature towns crept by 0.5% MOM (see Table 2). This could indicate growing price resistance among buyers in paying higher prices for such flats. On the other hand, the average prices of smaller resale flats mostly rose from May to June. For instance, 4-room flat prices were up by 1.1% MOM in mature towns and rose by 0.7% MOM in non-mature estates.

In June 2023, mature towns dominated the top 3 lists of estates in PropNex’s ranking of average transacted prices on a per square foot basis ($PSF) by flat types (see Table 3). The highest average PSF price for 4-room flats came in at $932 psf in Central Area, while Clementi and Queenstown posted the highest average unit resale price for 5-room flats and executive flats respectively in June 2023. A number of HDB resale flats that were sold for at least $1 million had helped to lift prices of 4-room flats in the Central Area in June.

Based on resale transaction data, about 35.1% of resale flats sold in June were priced at below $500,000, compared to 36% in May. Meanwhile, about 63.1% of the flats resold in May were transacted at between $500,000 and just under $1 mil – up slightly from the 62.5% in the previous month. The proportion of resale flats sold for at least $1 million accounted for about 1.8% of June’s transactions, inching up from 1.5% in May 2023 (See Chart 2).

There were 34 resale flats sold for at least $1 million in June – on par with that of May. In the first half of 2023, the market saw 208 “million-dollar” HDB resale flats (see Chart 3) changing hands, marking a 25% increase from the first six months of 2022 where 166 such flats were resold.

Of the 34 “million-dollar” flats resold in June, only one transaction took place in non-mature estates, being a 145-sq m executive maisonette in Toh Guan Road in Jurong East which fetched $1.018 million. The remaining transactions were in 11 mature towns – Bukit Merah, Toa Payoh, Central Area, Queenstown, Bishan, Kallang Whampoa, Ang Mo Kio, Clementi, Geylang, Bedok, and Marina Parade. By flat type, 17 of the “million-dollar” resale flats sold in June are 5-room units, 12 are 4-room flats, and 5 are executive flats.

An adjoined flat in Moh Guan Terrace in Tiong Bahru (Bukit Merah) became the most expensive HDB flat ever transacted. The jumbo unit which spans 176 sq m and has a remaining lease of about 48 years was resold for $1.5 million in June (see Table 3). It rewrote the previous record within the same month that it was set – a DBSS 5-room flat in Toa Payoh was resold for $1.42 million in June, but the record was short-lived and promptly overtaken by the resale deal at 50 Moh Guan Terrace.

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