Property market should start to ease with larger housing supply in pipeline, says Desmond Lee

The public and private housing markets have started to stabilise, and the property market should start to ease when housing supply increases, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee on April 15.

- Michelle Ng Correspondent and Ng Wei Kai

This is due to more public and private housing supply coming on board, along with an increased number of Housing Board flats that are eligible to be resold after their mandatory five-year minimum occupation period (MOP) from 2026, he said.

In the first quarter of 2025, HDB and Urban Redevelopment Authority statistics showed that prices of HDB flats grew by an estimated 1.5 per cent while those of private homes grew by an estimated 0.6 per cent — both at slower paces compared with the previous quarter.

At a press conference announcing the refreshed PAP slate in West Coast-Jurong West GRC, where he is the anchor minister, Mr Lee said that housing, the cost of living, jobs and the economy are issues that voters will be concerned about ahead of the coming polls. Parliament was dissolved on April 15, and Nomination Day will be on April 23.

These are not new issues, he noted.