Here's why more Singaporeans bought HDB flats this March

 

According to 99-SRX Media Flash Report, 2,287 HDB resale apartments were transacted in March, a 23.7% increase from February 2023.

By room type, HDB 4 Room accounted for 44.7% of the volumes, followed by HDB 3 Room, 26.2%, HDB 5 Room, 23.1%, and HDB Executive at 6.0%.

According to OrangeTee's Senior Vice President of Research & Analytics Christine Sun, the enhanced CPF housing grants to first-time buyers of resale apartments are to blame for the sales volume recovery.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong revealed that the CPF housing subsidy would rise to $80,000 (+$30,000) for first-time families buying four-room or smaller resale flats and to $50,000 (+$10,000) for those buying five-room or bigger flats during the Singapore Budget announcement.

"Buyers have also returned after house viewings picked up after the Chinese New Year period," she continued.

Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons Asia, confirmed this sentiment and continued, "While the rise in housing allowances on February 14 may have diverted some demand from the BTO market to the resale market, many purchasers are rejecting paying a COV as they deem HDB resale prices to be exorbitant. The surge in HDB resale prices may have been moderated as a result.

In the meantime, prices rose 0.5% in March compared to February as a result of the increased demand. The overall price rise from March 2022 is 8.3% year over year (YoY).

Regarding room types, 3 Room prices declined by 0.3% MoM but rose by 7.7% YoY; 4 Room prices climbed by 0.5% MoM and 9.0% YoY; 5 Room prices increased by 1.3% MoM and 7.9% YoY; and Executive prices increased by 1.3% MoM and 8.5% YoY.

Here's more from Orange Tee:

More 4-room resale flats may be sold above $1 million after the policy adjustment because private homeowners 55 and older are exempt from serving the 15-month wait-out period if they buy 4-room or smaller resale apartments. According to recent data, there have been more four-room apartments sold for $1 million recently. Nine four-room resale apartments were sold for $1 million in a single month last month, setting a monthly record for such apartment sales.

The number of four-room, million-dollar resale apartments has similarly increased on a quarterly basis, from six units in Q3 2022 to 13 units in Q4 2022 and 21 units in Q1 2023. For the remainder of the year, we anticipate that there may be more transactions of this nature.