Quarter-on-quarter, Q3 2021 HDB resale prices increased 2.9% while transaction volumes increased 19.4%.
Resale prices for Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats rose 2.9% in the third quarter of 2021, moderating from the 3% increase registered in the previous quarter, showed HDB data on Friday (22 October).
Nonetheless, it is still slightly higher than the 2.7% hike in the flash estimates released earlier by the Housing Board.
“The pace of price gains has probably peaked as buyers resist paying higher prices for resale flats,” said Lee Sze Teck, Senior Director of Research at Huttons Asia.
He pointed that HDB resale prices have increased by 9.1% for the first nine months of 2021, by 14.2% from the circuit breaker in Q2 2020, and by 15.1% from the bottom in Q2 2019.
In fact, it is now 0.8% above the previous peak in Q2 2013.
Despite this, he noted that demand for flats remained strong in Q3 2021 as transaction volume rose 19.4% to 8,433 units from the previous quarter’s 7,063 units.
“Buyers are entering the resale market to satisfy their urgent need for a home,” he said.
Looking ahead, Lee expects the transaction volume for this year to hover between 29,000 and 30,000 units.
“Prices may increase by another 2% to 2.5% in Q4 2021, bringing the price gains for the whole year to more than 11%, the largest gains since 2010,” he added.
Over at the rental market, HDB approved 10,417 applications to rent out HDB flats in Q3 2021, down 5.1% from Q2 2021’s 10,979 applications.
As at end-Q3 2021, the number of HDB flats rented out stood at 57,321, down 0.8% from 57,755 in the previous quarter.
HDB revealed that it will offer around 4,400 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in Hougang, Choa Chu Kang, Kallang Whampoa, Tengah and Jurong West in November.
“The projects are under review, and more details will be announced when ready,” it said.
HDB added that it is on track to launch around 17,000 BTO flats this year, up from the 14,600 flats launched in 2019 and the 16,800 flats in 2020.
“Including about 5,300 flats in the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises and open booking, a total of 22,300 flats will be offered in 2021,” it said.
“HDB will continue ramping up the flat supply to a higher level, and launch more than 17,000 flats in 2022, to meet the strong demand.”
Notably, about 2,000 to 3,000 BTO flats in Tengah, Geylang and Yishun will be offered by HDB in February next year.
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Cheryl Chiew, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email: cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg.
