Bishan HDB resale flat hits new record price of S$1.36m; million-dollar deals jump 3 times in 2021

Jan 06, 2022



THE number of Housing Board (HDB) resale flats transacted for at least S$1 million continued to rise in December 2021 to 38, surpassing the 29 transactions recorded in November - the previous record high.

A 5-room DBSS HDB unit located at Bishan's Natura Loft fetched the highest price in December at S$1.36 million - the highest transacted price ever for a resale flat.

For the whole of 2021, there were 261 million-dollar HDB resale transactions, thrice the 82 flats resold in 2020, according to flash data released by real estate portal SRX on Thursday (Jan 6).

Although resale volume of million-dollar flats are rising, they still account for a very small proportion of total transactions, noted property analysts.

The number of million-dollar flats sold in December comprised 1.6 per cent of total resale volume in the month, but only about 0.9 per cent of total HDB flats resold in 2021.

As a whole, HDB resale volumes dropped 6.1 per cent to 2,429 units in December, from 2,587 units the month before. This brings the total resale volume for the whole of 2021 to 29,182, which is 24.6 per cent higher than for 2020.

Analysts were mixed on whether or not the Dec 16 cooling measures may have impacted resale volumes.

PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying said the implementation of new cooling measures from mid-December 2021 may have caused some buyers to postpone their buying decision temporarily.

Research heads from ERA Singapore and OrangeTee & Tie attributed the drop in resale volume to the seasonal year-end lull period.

"January's sales numbers may therefore provide a clearer picture of the full impact of the new measures," said Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie senior vice-president of research and analytics.

A majority of the resale volume came from 4-room flats, which comprised 43.4 per cent of total resale transactions. This is followed by 25.7 per cent from 5-room flats, 22.1 per cent from 3-room flats and 7.3 per cent from Executive flats. The remaining deals were for 2-room and multi-generation flats.

Overall HDB resale prices rose 0.8 per cent month on month, slightly slower compared to the 1.3 per cent month-on-month rise in November. On a yearly basis, there was a 13.6 per cent increase in overall resale prices, with resale prices rising for all room types.

Month on month, 3-room, 4-room, 5-room and Executive flat prices increased 0.7 per cent, 0.9 per cent, 1.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. Flats in mature estates saw a 1 per cent increase in resale prices, while prices for those in non-mature estates rose 0.6 per cent.

Nicholas Mak, ERA Singapore head of research and consultancy, said the mismatch in supply and demand for resale public housing was one of the main drivers of rising prices.

While the increase in supply of new BTO flats can help absorb some of the demand, Mak expects the mismatch in supply and demand to cause the prices of HDB resale flats to rise by 4-8 per cent in 2022.

Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip said the rise in HDB resale prices has been the largest since 2010. He noted that the million-dollar transactions may have contributed to the increase in the 2021 price index.