The HDB resale flat market saw slight improvements in terms of both prices and volume last month. Will the upward trend continue for the rest of 2020?
The growing number of HDB resale flats sold in January
The number of HDB flats which changed hands seem to have grown slightly last month with prices also inching upwards despite the growth is lower than 1%. Last December, the market shrunk significantly more with a 3% decline. The year-end is, however, the usual lull period for the real estate sector as most of the country is travelling or the year-end festive season or for the school holidays.
HDB in Queensway. Picture: iProperty
As they return in January with some buyers hoping to close deals before the Lunar New Year period, the market could have picked up and hence accounted for the slight growth. Will this growth however be sustainable throughout the year as more resale units enter the market has reached the end of their minimum occupation period (MOP)?
Are more HDB flat owners upgrading to the private property market?
5,902 resale flats will reach the end of their MOP within the next 3 months and there also seems to be a growing trend for owners of these younger flats to sell once the MOP has been completed. This could considerably increase the supply of resale HDB flats in the months ahead.
Perhaps areas with higher numbers of young families may see a surge in the number of resale units being sold, for example in Punggol or Sengkang, Bukit Batok and Woodlands. These families may have grown since the time the owners received their keys and moved in. There have also been more executive condominiums and private condominium developments springing up in these estates over the past 5 to 10 years, hence the incentive to upgrade the private property sector or simply to a larger HDB unit may now be more compelling. Response from the buying public is yet to be seen though one may expect competition to be heightened as 2020 moves well into its first quarter.
