SINGAPORE: Public housing resale prices have continued to climb, with the Housing Development Board (HDB) reporting a 1.4 per cent hike in the second quarter of 2022. This represents the 13th consecutive quarter that prices have kept rising and marks the third year of continuous resale price increases since the circuit breaker period in mid-2020.

HDB also reported that transaction volume saw a year-on-year decrease of 4.6 per cent, with 6,409 units changing hands. This marks a new low in the same period of the past three years.

Although the price increase recorded in the second quarter of 2023 is 0.4 per cent higher than the 1 per cent increase that was reported in the previous quarter, HDB and Minister for National Development Desmond Lee have said that they see signs of moderation in the resale property market as the latest hike is lower than the average quarterly growth of 2.5 per cent last year.

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Suggesting that the property cooling measures the Government has implemented since 2021 are taking root, Mr Lee said on Facebook today that his ministry is continuing to increase the housing supply to meet the demand. He added, “We will continue to keep a close watch on the property market, and adjust our policies as necessary.”

Since December 2021, HDB has introduced measures to dampen the property market, including the Additional Buyer Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates, implementing a 15-month wait-out period for private property owners who want to purchase an HDB resale flat and reducing the loan-to-value limit for HDB housing loans from 90 per cent to 80 per cent.

HDB holds that these measures have slowed the price escalation rate in resale properties, but median prices for resale flats continue to climb.

103 HDB resale flats were sold for at least $1 million in the second quarter, with another 103 resale flats selling for the same hefty amount in the first quarter of 2023.

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Last month, a resale flat in Tiong Bahru was sold for a record-breaking price of $1.5 million, despite having only 48 years left on its 99-year lease.

4-room flat in Tiong Bahru fetches record breaking $1.5M price, despite being 50 years old