238 Million-Dollar HDB Flats Resold in October, a Third Straight Monthly Record, as Overall Prices Dip 0.2%

October saw 29 more million-dollar transactions than September’s 209, and these flats now make up 10.9% of all resale deals. The new record flat is a five-room unit of 111 square metres on the 40th to 42nd floor of Block 96 at SkyParc@Dawson, with 94 years left on its lease. It beats the S$1,728,000 paid in April for a five-room flat at City Vue@Henderson in Bukit Merah.

Toa Payoh recorded the most million-dollar deals in October with 39, followed by Queenstown with 31 and Bedok with 26. Outside the mature estates, the highest price was S$1.32 million for a five-room flat in Punggol.

Luqman Hakim, chief data officer at 99.co, said the split between record high-end deals and a softer overall market shows that buyers remain willing to pay up for flats that are larger, well located and newer, particularly in mature towns. As more flats reach their five-year minimum occupation period, he expects more of these newer units in popular estates to come onto the market.

Flash estimates. Source: 99.co and SRX.

Total resale volume fell 3.1% from September to 2,178 flats, although this is still 61.7% higher than in October last year. Prices fell 0.2% in mature estates and 0.7% in non-mature estates, and are broadly unchanged from a year ago. Non-mature towns accounted for 52.4% of transactions and mature towns for 47.6%.

For the last two months of the year, 99.co expects demand for well-located and larger flats to hold up, helped by private property owners who sell and move to HDB with cash in hand. At the same time, more flats reaching their minimum occupation period and the November BTO exercise give buyers more choice, which could limit price increases.