SINGAPORE, Jan 3 — Resale public housing prices in Singapore, one of the world’s most expensive cities, rose by 9.6 per cent in 2024, according to preliminary government data released yesterday.

Eight out of 10 of citizens live in public housing built and sold by the government, and housing affordability is a key issue alongside high living costs ahead of a general election in 2025.

The price increase was almost double the 4.9 per cent rise in 2023. The number of resale flats exchanging hands was 8 per cent higher than in 2023.

In August the government moved to cool public housing prices, reducing the amount buyers can borrow for a resale flat to 75 per cent of its valuation from 80 per cent.

Sales of public housing units for more than S$1 million (RM3.28 million) have made headlines in recent years, with the government yesterday urging households to "exercise prudence”.

"Those who buy high will be hit harder if prices weaken,” the housing authority said, adding resale prices were driven by strong broad-based demand and supply tightness in the market.

Christine Sun, chief researcher at OrangeTee, said the rise reflected fewer newly eligible units being offered for sale which intensified demand for them. Singaporean homeowners must stay in a new flat for at least five years before it can be sold. There were 11,952 such flats on the market in 2024 compared to 30,920 in 2022, according to OrangeTee.

Sun said increased grants to first-time buyers of resale flats, announced by the government in August, had also fed through to demand and prices.

Singapore’s property market had defied global pandemic trends with property prices rising instead of falling. Resale public flat prices rose 10.4 per cent in 2022 and 12.7 per cent in 2021.

Sun said more cooling measures could come into effect this year.

"It could be possible if resale volume rebounds in the first and second quarters, or more flats are selling for more than S$1 million,” said Sun. — Reuters