HDB Resale Volume Rebounded In March On Easing Price Growth And CPF Housing Grant Boost

HDB resale flat market activity picked up in March, as buyers returned to the market seeing the slight respite in resale price growth in the previous month, and as the increase in CPF Housing Grant amounts for eligible first-timer buyers help to improve affordability and lower the monthly mortgage payable.

Transaction data showed that resale volume rose by 24.3% month-on-month (MOM) to 2,290 units from 1,842 units in February (see Chart 1). When compared to March 2022, transactions were up slightly by 1.2% year-on-year. Apart from the boost from the revised CPF Housing Grant amounts announced at the Singapore Budget, some buyers may also have decided to enter the market after HDB resale prices remained flat in MOM February – a pause in price growth for the first time in more than 2 years, according to 99.co-SRX’s resale price index. In addition, the Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise in February could also have drawn some buyers from the resale market during the month.

Flats in non-mature estates accounted for about 58% of the monthly resales volume in March, with Punggol and Woodlands leading sales (188 and 176 transactions respectively). This is followed by mature town Tampines which saw 169 flats being resold during the month. Based on transaction data, newer flats with at least 94 years of remaining lease made up about 15% of March’s sales, and many of them are located in non-mature towns Punggol, Bukit Batok, and Woodlands. This is slightly higher than the 13.5% of flats with at least 94 years of remaining lease resold in the previous month.

Transaction data showed that the average price of HDB resale flats have ticked higher from March to February, rising by 5.6% MOM to $566,228 as sales volume rebounded (see Chart 1). Average resale prices of all flat types from 3-room to executive flats posted a slight MOM increase in March, with 4-room flats achieving a larger growth of 2.9% MOM to $579,568 (see Table 1). 

The average transacted price for most flat types also grew in both mature and non-mature towns, with 5-room resale flats in mature estates booking the fastest pace of growth at 5.7% from February to March 2023 (see Table 2).

In March 2023, mature towns mostly dominated the top 3 lists of estates with the highest average transacted price on a per square foot basis ($PSF) by flat types (see Table 3). The highest average price on a $PSF basis was for 5-room resale flats in Central Area which went for $1,177 psf in March 2023.

Looking at transaction data, about 39.5% of resale flats sold in March were priced at below $500,000, compared to 41.2% in February. Meanwhile, about 58.8% of the flats resold in March were transacted at between $500,000 and just under $1 mil versus 57.5% in the previous month. The proportion of resale flats sold for at least $1 million accounted for about 1.7% of March’s transactions – up from 1.3% in February (See Chart 2).

The resale volume of flats sold for at least $1 million rose by about 62.5% MOM from 24 units in February to 39 units in March (see Chart 3). Of the 39 units, two are located in non-mature towns, Hougang and Woodlands. The rest of the million-dollar resale flats in March are located in Bishan, Bukit Merah, Central Area, Clementi, Geylang, Kallang Whampoa, Queenstown, Serangoon, and Toa Payoh. In terms of flat type, 9 units are 4-room resale flats, 19 flats are 5-room units, and 11 are executive flats.

In March, the most expensive resale flat sold was a 106-sq m 5-room flat at Pinnacle @ Duxton in Central Area which fetched $1.4 million. The unit is located between 37 and 39 floor and has a remaining lease of more than 86 years (see Table 3).

Despite cooling measures introduced in September 2022 to soften demand for larger resale flats and moderate prices, the number of million-dollar resale flats remains high. In Q1 2023, there are 103 such transactions – at this pace, the number of million-dollar resale flats will surpass the record set last year (369 units as per latest data). We expect interest in such flats – which tend to have excellent attributes, in popular locations, and are spacious – to remain healthy as they offer a good value proposition for buyers when compared to private homes in the same locations, which are much pricier.

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