THE number of million-dollar flat transactions hit a new high in August 2023, in tandem with a 20.3 per cent jump in resale Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat volumes.

Flash data from real estate portal SRX and property agency 99.co released on Thursday (Sep 7) showed that 54 HDB flats changed hands for S$1 million or more during the month, up from 32 units in July 2023. 

The previous high of 45 such transactions was recorded in September 2022, following news of property cooling measures.

A majority of these million-dollar deals came from Bukit Merah, which recorded nine deals, followed by eight transactions in the central area, and six deals each in Ang Mo Kio and Kallang/Whampoa.

“Compared to several years ago, ‘million-dollar’ flats have gained more acceptance among buyers today and are a new normal in the resale flat market,” said Wong Siew Ying, PropNex’s head of research and content.

Such flats usually have unique attributes and attractive locations, presenting a strong value proposition for buyers with the means to purchase them, she added.

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Demand from seniors aged 55 and above likely contributed to the rise in million-dollar flat transactions, as some 30 per cent of these deals were for four-room units, said Nicholas Mak, chief research officer of Mogul.sg.

Seniors who have sold their private residential property would still be able to purchase four-room and smaller resale flats without being subjected to the 15-month wait-out period rule implemented in September 2022.

The number of million-dollar flat transactions made up 2.2 per cent of total resale volumes in the month, which rose to 2,473 units in August, compared with 2,056 the month before. Year on year, resale volumes were 6.4 per cent higher.

Property analysts have attributed the spike to buyers who brought forward their purchases ahead of the Hungry Ghost month, along with the return of buyers to the market following the June holiday period.

“News on changes to the HDB housing scheme to be announced during the National Day Rally on Aug 20 may have pushed more buyers to commit as they do not want to be affected by any policy change,” said Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip.

Echoing the sentiment, Eugene Lim, ERA key executive officer, said buyers who intend to live in more central areas would see the urgency to purchase their units as supply remains unchanged.

More than half of HDB resale volumes (59.7 per cent) came from non-mature estates, while the remaining 40.3 per cent were from mature estates.

By room type, 44.6 per cent of volumes were from four-room flats, followed by 22.8 per cent for five-room flats, 26.3 per cent from three-room flats and 6.3 per cent for executive flats.

Resale prices, meanwhile, were up 0.6 per cent in August, double the 0.3 per cent growth recorded in July. Year on year, resale prices were up 7.2 per cent.

Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie’s senior vice-president of research and analytics, noted that prices are rising at a slower pace compared with the same period in 2022 and 2021.

“Prices rose by 4.8 per cent from January to August 2023, a smaller growth than the 6.4 per cent in the first eight months of 2022 and 9.2 per cent in the first eight months of 2021.”

Flats in mature estates led price gains at 1.3 per cent, while non-mature estate prices rose 0.5 per cent. They were up 7.2 per cent and 7.3 per cent, respectively, on the year.

Larger flats also posted the highest jump in prices. Executive flat prices were up 1.6 per cent and five-room flats grew 1.5 per cent. Four-room flat prices climbed 0.9 per cent, while three-room prices slid 0.4 per cent.

All room types observed an increase in resale prices from the same period last year. Four-room flats led with an 8.2 per cent gain, followed by executive flats (8 per cent), five-room flats (7.2 per cent) and three-room flats (6.3 per cent).

The most expensive resale flat resold was S$1.48 million for a five-room unit at The Pinnacle@Duxton. For non-mature estates, the highest transacted price was S$1.08 million for an executive apartment in Woodlands Street 81.