Resale flats demand rebounds to pre-cooling measures levels: analyst

Almost a 15% increase was recorded in HDB resale flat sales.

Property analysts observed that transactions on resale flats have recovered in January after SRX-99.co revealed its report.

The report showed that there is a 14.9% increase in HDB resale flats last month compared to the 5.4% increase in January 2022. 

OrangeTee said demand for “resale flats in the area recovered to pre-cooling measure levels as sales volume rose for the third consecutive month to 2,575 units.” 

“This is close to the sales volume in September 2022, when cooling measures were enforced,” said OrangeTee.

PropNex said non-mature towns made up nearly 60% of the total resale volume in January, with Woodlands, Yishun, and Punggol being top estates. 

“This marks the third straight month of increase in HDB resale volume after sales dipped for one month following the introduction of cooling measures in September,” PropNex said.

It could be possible that buyers are returning to the resale market after a seasonal lull or they want to purchase a resale flat before the budget announcement in case of further cooling measures, according to PropNex.

Faster price hike

OrangeTee also noticed a faster pace of price increase at 1.4% with four-room flats increasing the most by 2.3%.

“Despite high inflationary pressures and interest rates, strong sales and faster price growth came as a surprise and may indicate genuine buyers in the market,” said OrangeTee.

Increasing housing supply and new launches may help ease demand pressures in Singapore, the property expert added.