SINGAPORE: A Dec 24 (Tuesday) report from EdgeProp showed that 2024 has been a record-breaking year for Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flat transactions that cost at least S$1 million, with Tampines topping the list with the most sales.
From two units last year, 21 HDB resale units were sold in Tampines in this price range. As EdgeProp noted, this is a year-on-year increase of 950 per cent.
Citing Huttons Data Analytics, the report said that S$1 million or more sales make up 3 to 4 per cent of the total market transaction volume.
From January to November this year, 931 HDB resale flat transactions were already in this price range. In comparison, in 2023, there were only 470. Sixty per cent of these transactions this year cost between $1 million and $1.1 million.
All HDB townships have already recorded million-dollar resale flat transactions except for three: Choa Chu Kang, Jurong West, and Sembawang.
In the past few years, Pasir Ris, Woodlands, Bukit Batok, Marine Parade, Tengah, and Sengkang joined the so-called million-dollar club. EdgeProp quoted Ismail Gafoor, the CEO of PropNex, as saying that the next to join the “club” is likely to be Jurong West.
Nevertheless, HDB flats that cost over a million dollars are the exception rather than the rule. In September, HDB emphasized that resale flats remain affordable for most home buyers.
Sia Tze Ming, HDB’s Director for Policy and Property, said that the proportion of HDB flats with very high resale is very small, with million-dollar flat transactions, at that point, only amounted to 2 per cent in the past year and a half.
“For the vast majority of home buyers, resale flats remain affordable. Eight in 10 first-timer families who bought their resale flats in 2023 could service their loan installments using their monthly Central Provident Fund contributions, with little or no cash payments,” she added.
In its 2024 piece, EdgeProp cited sales data from HDB, which said that 19 towns saw a rise in sales of resale flats of at least one million dollars.
“Given the rise in million-dollar resale flats sold, it is no surprise that many HDB towns posted their highest number of such transactions,” said Mr Gafoor.
Kallang Whampoa saw the highest number of such transactions, 146, followed by Toa Payoh (124). Sengkang saw its first transaction of over 1 million and has a total of four this year. /TISG
Featured photo from Wikipedia (DreamyBeluga)