SINGAPORE: Housing and Development Board ( HDB) resale prices are expected to grow slower in 2025, analysts said on Friday ( Jan 24 ).
Lower loan interest rates may draw more people to the personal property market, they added, while shorter waiting periods for BTO flats will be introduced for sale.
Analysts predict a 3.5 % to 8 % increase this year, which is lower than the 9.7 % increase in resale prices from the previous year.
Christine Sun, the head of research for OrangeTee Group, anticipates a 4- to 6-percent increase in HDB sale prices.
Despite the flats ‘ 6 974 units reaching their lowest-ever five-year minimum occupation period ( MOP) in 11 years, efforts to shorten the BTO flats ‘ waiting periods to less than three years may encourage buyers to do so.
This may “divert more need away from the sale industry”, said Ms Sun.
HDB will release about 19, 600 BTO cottages in 2025, of which , 3, 800 models may have a waiting period of under three times, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said earlier this month.
Mr Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at Singapore Realtors Inc, noted the upcoming Sale of Balance Flats ( SBF ) exercise in February.
HDB said this would be its largest SBF training with more than 5, 500 cottages, of which about 40 per share have already been completed.
These apartments are “particularly appealing to house applicants who value the option of purchasing a brand-new, ready-to-move-in level with a shorter waiting period compared to the typical BTO approach.”
A portion of these apartments are currently finished, making them an appealing choice for those who need housing right away, he continued.
He expects HDB selling prices to increase “modestly” by 3.5 to 5.5 per share.
” This reflects the relationship of robust demand, limited selling source, and the tempering effects of legislation measures, ensuring a sustainable and robust industry environment”, added Mr Sandrasegeran.
Lee Sze Teck, Huttons ‘ senior director of data analytics, stated that HDB resale prices are likely to increase at a slower rate of 5 to 8 percent this year.
He noted that HDB loan interest rates are currently at their lowest level and may not drop in the coming weeks. With a bigger loan classical, some buyers may get either an administrative apartment or a sale apartment, he said.
LONG GROWTH STREAK
In 2024, HDB resale prices increased by 9.7 %, slightly higher than flash estimates that were released early this month. Prices increased by 2.6 % in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.
This marks the 19th consecutive monthly fall, noted Ms Sun.  ,
It is now on its second-longest progress streak, just ahead of the 20 straight quarters of growth that occurred between the third quarter of 1991 and the third quarter of 1996.  ,
A” powerful broad-based need, as well as some supply tightness in the market,” according to HDB, led to the decline in selling prices in the third quarter.
In order to stabilize the business, the government in August 2024 had reduced the loan-to-value cap for HDB cover money.
Resale purchases for the last quarter of 2024 fell by 21.1 per share, from 8, 142 in the fourth quarter to 6, 424 in the fifth. The overall sale amount for the whole of 2024 increased by 8.4 per share to 28, 986.