Million-dollar HDB flats make up 0.3% of total resale flats sold

[SINGAPORE] Housing Board (HDB) flats sold for at least S$1 million made up 0.3 per cent of total resale transactions this year, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee on Wednesday.

There have been 38 such million-dollar flats sold as of August this year, out of 14,400 resale transactions.

Mr Lee gave the figure in response to Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC), who asked how the government plans to assuage public anxiety and pent-up demand in relation to such million-dollar flats.

Earlier this month, flash estimates from real estate portal SRX showed that eight HDB resale flats were sold for at least S$1 million last month.

Of the eight units, the highest transacted price was S$1.26 million for a five-room flat at The Pinnacle@Duxton in Tanjong Pagar.

In 2019, 64 HDB flats were sold for more than S$1 million, while 71 of such flats were sold in 2018.

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On the pricing of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, Mr Lee said prices remain at less than five times of median annual household income, compared to other major cities in the world where the ratio can be nearly 10 or 20 times.

When the HDB prices new flats, it first establishes the flat's market value by considering factors such as its individual attributes, the prices of comparable resale flats nearby and prevailing market conditions, he said.

"A generous subsidy is then applied, so that new flats are priced at a significant discount to the market. The pricing approach is the same for BTO flats in the mature and non-mature estates," he added.

He noted that first-time flat buyers can also tap the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant of up to S$80,000.

The majority of first-timer families are able to buy BTO flats in non-mature estates and service their monthly mortgage instalments using their CPF, paying zero or minimal cash, he added.

He said the government will continue to closely monitor the affordability of BTO and resale flats.

Separately, Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah told the House that about 80 per cent of the 1,000 two-room flexi flats launched in the first half of this year have been booked.

Of these, more than 90 per cent were booked by seniors and singles, she said in response to Mr Gan.

HDB launched another 1,800 two-room flexi flats in the August BTO sales exercise.

She added that on average, singles bought about 6,000 resale flats out of the 22,000 sold each year over the past five years under the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme or the Joint Singles Scheme.

Of these, about 46 per cent were three-room or smaller flats, 39 per cent were four-room flats, and 15 per were five-room or bigger flats, she said.

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