Desmond Lee: Property market will continue to stabilise despite HDB and private home prices rising in the first quarter of Q1

Singapore – There could be quarter-on-quarter variations in Housing Board and private home price resales, but authorities anticipate the market for property to continue stabilising, said National Minister for Development Desmond Lee.

Mr Lee told reporters at the opening of Greenfly Allotment Garden, Boon Lay on the 27th of April that the government would be watching trends closely over the coming quarters.

His remarks came just a day after the publication of the most up-to-date HDB residential resales and private housing data for the initial quarter of 2024.

In the first quarter of 2024, HDB apartments for resales saw a price increase of 1.8 percent which was higher than the previous quarter’s 1.1 percent. Based on the data published by the statutory board, it was the 16th consecutive quarter in a row of price increases since the second quarter of 2020.

According to figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the cost of residential property for private use was up 1.4 percent in the first quarter.

“Season by season and quarter by quarter, there will be fluctuations in (HDB) resale prices. But if you look at the trends year after year, the price increase for resales was lower than the year before 2022, and 2022’s lower than 2022’s previous year,” Mr Lee said.

HDB prices for resales increased 4.9 per cent in 2023, lower than the 10.4 per cent increase in 2022, and the 12.7 percent rise in 2021.

He explained that the reason for this was a combination of reasons, such as HDB being caught up to the construction delays caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic and the continued ramp-up of Build-to-Order (BTO).

Between 2021 and 2025, the authorities will launch 100,000 BTO apartments. In February, there were more than 67,000 BTO homes available for sale.

Find out more about: Tembusu Grand Pricing

The market for private houses has seen a substantial growth.

A total of 5,450 homes on 10 confirmed areas are expected to be released during the first quarter of 2024 under the Government Land Sales programme. This is the seventh consecutive half-yearly rise in the number of homes available since the beginning of 2021.

The websites on the list will be sold in accordance with the schedule, and without regard to demand.

“We have also implemented a set of measures that cooled the market to ensure the property market as a whole, on both the HDB as well as the private side remains in line with the economic fundamentals,” said Mr Lee.

Mr Lee on April 27 singled out a five-room unit in a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project in Toa Payoh. The project has an estimated price of $2 million that was the subject of much the attention of many in recent days.

In 2005, the scheme was launched to provide homeowners with a higher income homes with better design and finishes. But, it was canceled in the year the year 2011. Built on government land, DBSS flats are designed and sold by private developers.

Mr Lee was able to reassure those worried that this was a reflection of increased resale values by saying that the number of apartments sold at 1 million or more remains only a tiny fraction of the total number of resales each year. He also pointed out that the flats in question are usually uncommon or large, and are located on high floors, near shopping malls and transport hubs or with other unique characteristics.

In March, 61 homes were sold for more than $1 million. This was less than the 2,063 resale flats sold in the same month according to the data flashed by real estate websites Singapore Real Estate Exchange and 99.co.

The garden, which Mr. Lee inaugurated in Block 209’s ground floor Boon Lay Place in April provides individual plots for gardening. It is the 15th garden completed by HDB as well as URA under the Lively Places Fund.

Another eight gardens are being planned for the future.

At the end of March, HDB had disbursed nearly $1.1 million under the fund, supporting 223 projects such as community gardens, allotment and community gardens in open green spaces, as well as multi-storey carpark roof decks.