More 3-room resale flats change hands at $800k and higher in 2024

This year saw more three-room flats being resold at high prices.

According to Shin Min Daily News, resale records showed a spike in the number of three-room flats that changed hands for at least $800,000.

Till Sept 13, a total of 30 such units were sold in 2024, the Chinese evening daily reported. This is a tenfold increase from the three that were transacted in 2023.

Some of the flats sold this year have broken resale records — in August, a three-room flat in Bukit Merah that recently reached the minimum occupancy period (MOP) was sold for $860,000.

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This unit at Block 10A Tiong Bahru View — excluding HDB terrace flats — is the most expensive three-room flat in Bukit Merah, 99.co reported.

The 667 sq ft flat is located between the 34th and 36th floors, and has a remaining lease of 90 years.

In July, a three-room flat in Toa Payoh changed hands for $808,000. The 731 sq ft unit at Block 130B Toa Payoh Lorong 1, has 93 years of remaining lease.

According to the housing board's resale flat records, 12 flats at St George's Towers were sold for at least $800,000 each this year, with one unit fetching the highest price of $826,888 in July.

The flat at Block 26A has a size of 667 sq ft and is located between the 19th and 21st floors. It also has a remaining lease of about 95 years.

Shin Min reported that over the past three years, the median resale price for three-room flats has seen a steady increase — from $370,000 in 2022 to $390,000 in 2023, followed by $410,000 this year.

The deputy head of research at 99.co noted an upward trend for resale prices of three-room flats over the past 11 months.

Most of the units that were sold for more than $800,000 were in housing projects that had just completed MOP, and the flats are situated in mature estates close to the city, he told Shin Min.

OrangeTee Group chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun concurred, saying that the factors involved in the high prices of these three-room flats include good locations and the long remaining leases on the units.

Three-room flats with such qualities may be a more suitable option for home buyers with a budget, as compared to the four-room units with an asking price of $1 million and above, they said.

New property cooling measures

In the latest round of property cooling measures, the government said in August that the maximum loan that home buyers can take from the housing board will be lowered. 

Reducing the loan-to-value (LTV) limit from 80 per cent to 75 per cent will encourage more prudent borrowing and dampen demand at the higher end of the HDB resale market, said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee on Aug 20.

Although the proportion of million-dollar resale flats has grown, it remains very small — at about two per cent of total transactions over the past year and a half, Lee noted. Only 0.5 per cent of four-room and smaller flats were sold for $1 million or more within the past two years.

"But when they go around, people have the impression that every resale flat is a million dollars or more," he commented. 

Resale prices have been rising since the second quarter of 2020, according to data released by HDB in July.

ALSO READ: New HDB loan limit - Will it affect resale flat prices? Analysts weigh in

khooyihang@asiaone.com