Resale price index hiked by 3.1% in Q4 2020: HDB

For the entirety of 2020, the RPI increased by 5%.

The Resale Price Index (RPI) for Q4 2020 is 138.1, 3.1% higher than in Q3 2020, according to the public housing figures released by the Housing & Development Board (HDB).

For the entirety of 2020, the RPI inched up by 5%.

According to the report, resale transactions decreased by 1.9% QoQ from 7,787 cases in Q3 2020 to 7,642 cases in Q4 2020. On a year-on-year basis, resale transactions in Q4 2020 climbed by 20.6%.

Concurrently, resale transactions in 2020 increased by 4.4%, from 23,714 to 24, 748 cases.

Real estate services leader OrangeTee said: “We are now reaping a ‘harvest of market stability’ as a result of punitive measures like the total debt servicing ratio, mortgage servicing ratio, and seller’s stamp duty that were put in place over the years. In hindsight, these measures have sown good seeds of financial prudence and soundness in the financial system, which have prevented most buyers from overleveraging and built a buffer against huge credit losses in times of market uncertainties.”

On the other hand, the number of approved applications to rent out HDB flats surged by 3.4% QoQ from 8,196 cases in Q3 2020 to 8,472 in Q4 2020. By the end of Q4 2020, 59,092 HDB flats were rented out, 0.05% higher QoQ.

“We estimate that overall rents may increase slightly by up to 3% this year,” OrangeTee said. “Depending on how fast air travel can fully resume, the rental applications may hit 42,000 to 44,000 units in 2021.”

Moreover, the HDB would offer approximately 3,700 build-to-order flats in Bukit Batok, Kallang Whampoa, Tengah, and Toa Payoh in February 2021.