SINGAPORE – More Housing Board flats changed hands in May amid slower price growth.

The HDB resale volume was up 3.2 per cent from April, with 2,259 flats sold in May. Compared with the same period a year ago, sales were up by 4.8 per cent, noted flash data released by real estate portals 99.co and SRX on Thursday.

The resale market is also showing its resilience with HDB resale prices climbing 0.3 per cent, down from the 1.1 per cent growth seen in April. Overall, May’s prices were up by 7.7 per cent higher than those from the year before.

Analysts attributed the uptick in sales and slower price growth to various factors.

May’s results could be due to the effects of the cooling measures introduced in September 2022 and the heightened supply of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats this year, said property portal Mogul.sg’s chief research officer Nicholas Mak.

“The marginal price increase is a sign that the HDB resale is stabilising. However, I don’t think resale prices will fall unless we have a very severe economic slowdown. Currently, there is still healthy underlying demand,” he added.

Since Sept 30, 2022, private home owners must wait 15 months after the sale of their home before they can buy a resale flat without housing grants. The criteria for HDB loans were also tightened.

Mr Mak expects HDB resale price index to grow by 3 per cent to 6 per cent this year.

PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying noted that the