Prices of HDB resale flats, private homes grow at slower pace in first quarter

Public and private property prices grew at a slower pace in the first quarter of 2025 due to an increase in housing supply in both markets, coupled with a slowdown in resale flat volumes and overall private home transaction volumes.

- Grace Leong

Amid stable demand for both housing types in the first quarter, analysts warn of downside risks ahead due to rising macroeconomic uncertainty.

Following a bull run of 20 straight quarters, Housing Board resale prices grew 1.6 per cent in the first quarter—the slowest growth recorded since the fourth quarter of 2023 at 1.1 per cent. In comparison, prices in the third and fourth quarters of 2024 grew 2.7 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.

On the private housing front, the Urban Redevelopment Authority's overall private home price index grew at a slower pace of 0.8 per cent in the first quarter, beating flash estimates of 0.6 per cent. Growth was far below a 2.3 per cent gain in the previous quarter, as the price momentum for non-landed properties eased across all market segments.

With some price resistance setting in, the number of HDB estates registering quarterly price growth dipped to 19 in the first quarter, from 20 in the fourth quarter. Over the same period, those seeing a quarterly price drop rose to seven from six, according to OrangeTee Group.

Total resale flat volume gained 2.6 per cent to 6,590 units in the first quarter of 2025, from 6,424 units sold in the fourth quarter of 2024. But year on year, it fell 6.8 per cent from 7,068 units in the first quarter of 2024. This is the lowest first-quarter volume since the first quarter of 2020, when 5,893 units were transacted.