Public housing resale demand to dry up as massive supply comes onstream

Over 4,000 BTO units will go on sale this month.

Sales in the HDB resale market will likely drop when a massive supply of build-to-order flats comes onstream this month, according to ERA Realty.

Prices of resale HDB flats declined for the first time in seven months in January, while resale transactions also dipped.

“In February, HDB will be launching its sale exercise with 4,150 BTO units, including 1,580 in the popular Bidadari estate. This will probably affect resale demand in some way; as buyers hold back to wait for the launch,” ERA Realty said.

Despite the bumper crop of flats in February, ERA Realty said that resale transactions are likely to pick up in the months of March, April and May. This would usually set the momentum and pace for the rest of the year.

“We believe that HDB resale demand should remain steady for 2016, with comparable transaction volume to 2015, at about 20,000 units. We should continue to see recurring monthly price movements of about 0.5%, either upwards or downwards. These are month-on-month fluctuations and they should not be a cause for concern,” ERA Realty said.