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SINGAPORE – The Housing Board (HDB) resale market remained strong despite macroeconomic uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the growing supply of flats.
HDB resale prices were up 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 percent from the previous three months, according to HDB’s latest flash estimates released on Monday (January 4).
It is the third consecutive quarter of increase and the largest quarterly increase in more than nine years, with the last record high being the third quarter of 2011, when HDB’s resale prices rose 3.8 percent in three months.
The fourth quarter of 2020 also saw the steepest year-on-year increase in HDB resale prices since the third quarter of 2013, which saw a 6.5% jump.
For all of 2020, resale prices increased 4.8 percent, more than the 0.1 percent growth in 2019 and the 0.9 percent decline in 2018.
Final figures, with more detailed public housing data, will be released on January 22.
Christine Sun, director of research and consulting at OrangeTee and Tie, said that the recovery of HDB’s resale market can be attributed to the large number of policy changes made in the past two years to make public housing more affordable and enhance the appeal of older floors.
This includes allowing buyers greater flexibility in using their Central Provident Fund (CPF) to purchase older flats and the introduction of the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) for eligible buyers, which has a high income ceiling. and a simplified grant structure.
“Many new apartments that have higher prices have also been traded in the last few months, which may have ‘raised’ the overall price index in the last quarter,” Ms. Sun said.
A record 72 HDB resale floors were sold for over $ 1 million in the first 11 months of 2020. It surpassed the previous record of 71 units traded in 2018 and 64 units in 2019.
This includes an HDB resale apartment at Pinnacle @ Duxton that sold for a record price of $ 1.258 million in September of last year.
Sun expects prices for HDB resale flats to increase by 2-5 percent this year as Singapore’s economy gradually recovers in the second half of 2021.
“Couples who are still doing well at work can continue with their improvement plans, while those still affected by the pandemic can move from private housing to HDB apartments. This can result in them putting on more apartments on the market and more flats that will change hands in the coming months, “he said.
The long completion period of recent Build-To-Order (BTO) launches and rising private home prices may also divert some of the demand to the HDB resale market, he added.
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