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HDB to Launch Over 25,000 New Flats in 2025, Announces Minister for National Development Desmond Lee
According to a joint press release by HDB and the Ministry of National Development (MND) on Jan 16, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee has announced that HDB will be launching over 25,000 new flats in 2025.
This includes approximately 19,600 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats across three sales exercises and more than 5,500 Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) in one SBF sale exercise. The new flats will fall under the new classification framework, offering a mix of Standard, Plus, and Prime BTO flats.
The February BTO launch will see around 5,000 flats being offered in Kallang/Whampoa, Queenstown, Woodlands, and Yishun. In addition, HDB will also conduct its largest-ever SBF exercise next month, offering over 5,500 flats across various estates. Out of these, 40% are completed units while the rest are expected to be completed between 2025 and 2028.
Overall, there will be more than 10,000 new flats available under the February BTO and SBF exercises. In the past four years, HDB has launched around 82,700 BTO flats from 2021 to 2024. With the planned pipeline of 19,600 BTO flats in 2025, HDB is on track to launch a total of around 102,300 BTO flats, exceeding its commitment of 100,000 units over five years.
It is imperative for overseas investors to have a comprehensive understanding of the rules and limitations surrounding property ownership in Singapore. In contrast to the strict regulations for landed properties, foreigners are generally allowed to purchase condos with minimal restrictions. However, it is important to note that foreign buyers are still required to pay the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) of 20% for their first property purchase. Despite the higher costs, the Singapore real estate market continues to attract foreign investment due to its stability and potential for growth. This can be seen in the constant flow of foreign funds into new condo launches. With the rising number of new condo launches, the Singapore property market remains a lucrative option for foreign investors.
The increase in BTO supply has resulted in a drop in application rates. In 2024, the average application rate among first-time homebuyers for BTO across all flat types was 2.1, compared to the pre-pandemic rate of 3.7 in 2019. For three-room and larger flats, the average first-timer application rate was 2.2 in 2020, down from 4.0 in 2019.
Minister Lee states that HDB will continue to release a steady pipeline of flats to meet housing demand in the next few years. Over 50,000 flats are expected to be launched between 2025 and 2027, bringing the total to around 130,000 flats from 2021 to 2027.
Out of the 19,600 new flats to be launched in 2025, approximately 3,800 or one-fifth will be Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) flats with a waiting time of less than three years. This is an increase from the 2,876 SWT flats offered in 2024 and more than the committed annual supply of 2,000 to 3,000 SWT flats.
According to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia, the SWT flats will provide buyers with more options and may attract some demand away from the resale market. This larger supply of flats and SWT flats will also address the shortfall in MOP (minimum occupation period) flats.
In 2025, it is estimated that about 7,000 HDB flats will reach their five-year MOP, making it the lowest supply of such resale flats since 2015. Lee predicts that with HDB pushing out more BTO and SBF flats to meet demand, there will be more choices for buyers and a stabilisation of the resale market. As a result, the volume of resale flat transactions in 2025 is expected to be between 26,000 and 28,000, lower than the 28,876 units recorded last year. Resale flat prices are also expected to grow at a slower pace of 5% to 8% this year, compared to the 9.6% increase reflected in HDB’s flash estimate for 2024.