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SINGAPORE: The number of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats sold on the resale market in the third quarter increased by 127.3 percent after the lifting of Singapore’s “circuit breaker” in June.
Official figures released on Friday (October 23) showed that 7,787 flats were sold from July to September this year, compared to 3,426 sold in the second quarter.
Year-over-year, the number of resale transactions in the third quarter increased 24.3 percent, according to HDB data.
Prices also rose 1.5 percent from Q2 to Q3, and the resale price index, which provides information on overall price movements in the public resale housing market, rose to 133.9.
Median resale prices by city and type of apartment, for the resale cases registered in the third quarter of 2020 (Table: HDB).
Singapore tripped a circuit breaker on April 7 to slow the spread of COVID-19. As cases declined, the country began a gradual reopening, with Phase 1 beginning on June 2 and Phase 2 on June 19.
The public housing market posted an “impressive rebound” after posting “historically low sales” in the second quarter of this year, when homes were banned from viewing during the outage period, OrangeTee’s head of research and consulting said. & Tie Christine Sun.
“The rapid change in the housing market could be driven by aggressive stimulus packages unleashed globally to weather the economic consequences of the pandemic,” he said.
“Strong government intervention and various financial assistance schemes, such as loan deferrals, may have prevented the widespread drop in mortgage defaults and the drop in fixed prices.”
The price increase could “possibly be attributed” to many new HDB resale flats being sold last quarter.
“Some sellers may have also increased their selling price in light of the increasing demand for HDB flooring,” Ms. Sun said.
Some of the demand from the Build-To-Order (BTO) market could also have been drawn, he added.
“Many recently launched BTO apartments were scheduled to be completed in four to five years and the long waiting period brought some buyers to the resale market, especially for couples with urgent housing needs.
“Many BTO launches were also heavily underwritten, and unsuccessful candidates had to turn to the resale market as an alternative,” Sun said.
NEXT RELEASES
HDB will launch around 9,300 BTO floors on various farms in November this year and February 2021.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, HDB is monitoring the situation and will make any necessary adjustments,” said HDB.
The next Balance Flats Sale exercise is also scheduled to launch in November with the BTO exercise, “barring unforeseen circumstances.”
