First-time buyers, private homeowners fulfilling wait-out period to fuel HDB resale price growth

HDB resale prices grew 0.5% MoM and 6.4% YoY in February.

With the upcoming BTO sales launch four months away, real estate experts believe the HDB resale market will see demand from first-time home buyers and private homeowners fulfilling their 15-month wait-out period.

Such demand put upward pressure on HDB resale prices in the coming months, said OrangeTee.

“We anticipate that more first-timers, especially those needing immediate housing, will turn to the resale market,” OrangeTee said.

Huttons echoed this, saying the HDB resale market will likely see more transactions in the next few months as “there will not be another SBF exercise in 2024, and the next BTO launch will be in June.”

In February, the HDB resale market slowed due to the Chinese New Year and the HDB launch of BTO and SBF exercises.

“With a large chunk of potential demand moved temporarily to the BTO and SBF market. The HDB resale market saw fewer transactions in February 2024,” Huttons said.

For 2024, Huttons expects HDB resale volume to come between 25,000 to 27,000 flats, whilst resale flat prices are likely to stabilise in the range of 3% to 5%,