A Rattle- UP FOR HDB RESALE LISTINGS
Usually, real estate agents relied on printing media such as media to market their properties. Potential buyers meticulously looked through page after page of listings to find the best property to purchase.
The environment of home search was altered by the introduction of online portals like PropertyGuru and 99. inc. However, these sites mainly cater to officials, and listing items can cost up to S$ 20, 000 for 12 weeks. Additionally, specific sellers and buyers are unable to find them quickly.
If an option channel is available, this might soon shift.
On Sunday ( May 12 ), HDB announced a new resale flat listing ( RFL ) service for owners to list and sell their properties independently. If owners can “do it- yourself” ( DIY ) in selling their apartments, this may avoid conventional agent involvement and save on commission fees.
In the current payment structure, the buyer pays 1 % of the transaction cost and the owner typically pays 2 % of the transaction amount. A S$ 2 million house, for example, would cost the owner S$ 40, 000 in representative fee. It merits consideration as to the potential impact of this savings on the wider selling smooth market.
Before listing their apartments on the portal, the RFL requires level owners to receive an intent to sell from HDB. This will prevent record and mock listings from appearing.  ,  ,
Additionally, it has a testing mechanism to notify buyers if their asking price exceeds the most recently traded price of comparable products by 10 %. This might help to reduce the number of currently overpriced ads we see on home platforms.
As the RFL is already in its gentle launch phase, it will likely find more listings from sellers as it expands, increasing the number of homes available to potential buyers.
Will it be able to improve the efficiency and transparency of the housing industry in Singapore? What effects will it have on estate agents who are reaching out to potential buyers?
The RFL system will reduce tension and may signal a more aggressive environment, easing existing sites ‘ efforts to up their game, though it’s premature to yet know the full extent of these results.
Even if not all of the owners choose to” DIY” in selling their HDB cottages, the RFL companies could lower the cost of hiring agents as a result of the improving and digital transformation of the transaction process.
Sing Tien Foo is the Provost’s Chair Professor at the Department of Real Estate, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. The author’s opinions do not necessarily reflect those of NUS and its members.