Cooling measures dampen HDB home buyers’ enthusiasm
In spite of worries over housing affordability and involvement from the government, HDB resale prices continued to rise throughout the year 2022.
According to Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie who has the best Property Agent Career, the most noticeable rises in demand and prices were reported in non-mature estates such as Bukit Batok, Sembawang, Yishun, Woodlands, and Jurong West. These estates are located in Singapore.
“There were customers seeking for apartments in newer developments that were still within their price range. “The prices of resale apartments in mature estates are much higher than the prices of flats in these locations, despite the fact that the prices of flats in these areas have increased,” she explains.
In light of the pandemic, there has been an increased acceptance of hybrid working arrangements, which has led to an increase in the number of employees working remotely from home, according to Nicholas Mak, head of research and consulting at ERA Realty.
“As a consequence of this, some people who are looking to purchase a property may choose bigger apartments,” adds Mak. “However, the general availability of five-room flats on the market remains limited.” He goes on to say that the government does not have any plans to supply BTO apartments in mature estates that have five rooms at this time. Therefore, those who are interested in purchasing a five-room apartment in an established community will go to the resale market even though the costs are higher.
Buyers are discouraged by the BTO’s timetables.
A spillover in demand from purchasers who were put off by the lengthier project completion timeframes for certain BTO developments was another factor that contributed to the increasing trajectory of resale HDB prices this year. This helped drive the upward trajectory of resale HDB prices.
According to Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty, the majority of first-time home purchasers normally want to obtain a BTO apartment since these flats are heavily subsidized. This statement is based on the fact that most BTO flats are available. According to Gafoor, “the competition for BTO apartments tends to be fierce, and the completion of new flats may take anywhere from three to five years.”
According to Gafoor, this indicates that the only purchasers who are likely to continue applying for BTO apartments as their first home are those who do not have an immediate need for housing. According to him, applicants who have been unsuccessful in obtaining a BTO apartment more than once could make the decision to go into the resale market.
A number of BTO projects in 2020 and 2021 experienced delays in their completion dates as a direct result of supply-chain problems in the construction sector. As of the beginning of this year, the government reports that the majority of these problems with the timeliness of the projects have been handled and that the projects are once again on schedule.
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