We thank Mr Chan Hean Boon for his feedback (Refrain from publicising million-dollar resale flats, Aug 23).

HDB flats with very high resale prices form a very small proportion of all resale transactions. In the last 1½ years, million-dollar flats accounted for only 2 per cent of total resale transactions. These are mostly maisonettes, executive apartments and jumbo flats, or five-room flats in very good locations, on high floors or with very long remaining leases.

Among resale transactions of four-room and smaller flats, less than 0.5 per cent transacted above a million dollars, and these are mostly located in or very near the city centre. 

For the vast majority of home buyers, resale flats remain affordable. Eight in 10 first-timer families who bought their resale flats in 2023 could service their loan instalments using their monthly Central Provident Fund contributions, with little or no cash payments.

We agree with Mr Chan that sensationalised reports on million-dollar resale flats can influence market behaviour. Such reports may lead sellers to raise their price expectations, while anxious flat buyers may rush into the market irrationally.

This could cause the market to run ahead of economic fundamentals and result in a bubble. Buyers should note that the property market moves in cycles. Those who buy flats at higher prices with larger housing loans will be the hardest hit when the property market cools.

To encourage responsible listing with realistic prices, the HDB resale flat listing portal automatically prompts sellers if their listed price exceeds the highest transacted price of nearby units of the same flat type in the past six months by 10 per cent or more.

This complements the HDB resale flat prices e-service, where potential buyers and sellers can search for resale flat transactions in the last two years by flat type and location, to make more informed decisions.

Sia Tze Ming
Director (Policy and Property)
Housing and Development Board