This press release provides information on the upcoming flat supply and the HDB resale and rental markets in 2nd Quarter 2023.

Upcoming Flat Supply in 2H 2023

2 To meet the increased housing demand, HDB has ramped up the supply of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats by 35%, from 17,100 flats in 2021, to 23,200 flats in 2022, and 23,000 flats in 2023. Close to 10,000 flats have been launched in the first half of this year, and another 13,000 flats will be launched in the second half of the year.

3 The next sales exercise will be held in end September/early October 2023, instead of the usual end August/early September 2023 period. This takes into consideration the ballot results for the May BTO and Sales of Balance Flats exercise, which will only be announced in the first and last week of August respectively. This new timeline would allow interested flat applicants to know their queue position before deciding whether to apply for a flat in the next sales launch. In addition, HDB will also have more time to finalise the system changes needed for the new First-Timer (Parents & Married Couples) priority category and other changes which will take effect from the next sales exercise¹.

4 In the next BTO sales exercise, HDB will offer about 6,700 flats in towns/estates such as Choa Chu Kang, Kallang Whampoa, Queenstown, and Tengah. The final sales exercise of 2023, which will be held in December 2023, will see about 6,300 flats in towns/estates such as Bedok, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Bukit Panjang, Jurong West, Queenstown and Woodlands on offer. More details on the launch numbers and project details will be provided closer to the launch dates.

5 As announced on 28 April and 8 May 2023, flat buyers are required to have a valid HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter when they apply for a new flat from the 3Q 2023 sales exercise onwards². As the HFE letter is valid for six months, we strongly encourage those who intend to apply for a flat in the next sales exercise in end September/early October 2023 to apply for their HFE letter by mid-August 2023, if they have not yet done so. This is to avoid a situation where their HFE letter cannot be approved in time for their flat application in the next sales exercise. More information on how to apply for an HFE letter is available on the HDB InfoWEB.

6 HDB will continue to monitor housing demand closely and maintain a steady pipeline of supply. Meanwhile, we remain on track to launch a total of 100,000 flats from 2021 to 2025.

HDB Resale Market

7 We are seeing some moderation in the rate of increase in resale prices since the Government’s implementation of a strong pipeline of supply, as well as the cooling measures to promote a stable and sustainable property market. These include the measures to moderate demand in the HDB resale market and encourage prudent borrowing, such as a wait-out period of 15 months before private property owners³ are allowed to purchase a non-subsidised HDB resale flat, as well as the lowering of the Loan-to-Value (LTV) limit for HDB housing loans from 90% to 85%, and further to 80%.

8 HDB’s Resale Price Index (RPI) for 2nd Quarter 2023 is 176.2, an increase of 1.5% over that in 1st Quarter 2023 (see Annex A). This is a higher increase than the 1.0% growth in 1st Quarter 2023 but lower than the average quarterly growth of 2.5% in 2022.

9 Resale transactions for 2nd Quarter 2023 fell by 6.7%, from 6,979 cases in 1st Quarter 2023 to 6,514 cases (see Annex B). There are seasonal factors at play when it comes to resale volume, more so than for resale flat prices. Compared to 2nd Quarter 2022, resale transactions in 2nd Quarter 2023 were also 4.5% lower. In fact, last quarter’s resale volume is the lowest in the last three years, i.e. since 3rd Quarter 2020.

10 The median resale prices in the various towns in 2nd Quarter 2023 are tabulated in Annex C.

HDB Rental Market

11 The median rents in the various towns in 2nd Quarter 2023 are tabulated in Annex D.

12 The number of approved applications to rent out HDB flats rose by 1.9% from 9,657 cases in 1st Quarter 2023 to 9,842 cases in 2nd Quarter 2023 (see Annex E). Compared to that in 2nd Quarter 2022, the number of approved applications in 2nd Quarter 2023 was 5.7% higher. As at the end of 2nd Quarter 2023, there were 56,858 HDB flats rented out, an increase of 0.4% over the previous quarter (56,652 units).

¹ On 2 Mar 2023, Minister for National Development, Mr Desmond Lee announced various initiatives to keep public housing accessible for Singaporeans. These include the introduction of a new First-Timer (Parents & Married Couples) priority category, where families with at least one Singapore Citizen child aged 18 and below or married couples aged 40 and below, will receive an additional ballot chance and enjoy higher priority in Build-to-Order (BTO) / Sale of Balance flat (SBF) exercises. To ensure more efficient flat allocation so that those who need a flat can secure one more quickly, HDB will tighten the rules for non-selection of flats.

²The HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter was implemented on 9 May 2023 to provide flat buyers with a holistic assessment of their eligibility for new and resale flat purchases, CPF housing grants and HDB housing loan, including the respective grant and loan amounts. During the May 2023 sales exercise, as a transitional measure to smoothen the implementation, applicants were allowed to make their flat applications with just a preliminary HFE assessment and they only needed to apply for their HFE letter within one month, before the expiry of the preliminary HFE assessment.

³Except for senior aged 55 and above (and their spouses) who are moving from their private property to a 4-room or smaller resale flat.

Upcoming Flat Supply and 2nd Quarter 2023 Public Housing Data