Foreign purchases of local condos down 71% since April 2023 ABSD hike

From 13 May, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) announced that HDB flat owners or their property agents will have the option to list their flats for sale directly on the HDB Flat Portal.

HDB stated that this latest feature on the portal aims to streamline the flat buying and selling process, providing secure property transactions and agency services for both buyers and sellers. To ensure the authenticity of listings, sellers must register an Intent to Sell before listing their flats. Buyers will also require an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter—confirming their eligibility to purchase a flat, receive housing grants, and secure financing options—in order to schedule viewings with sellers.

This will improve the transaction experience for both parties and ensure greater transparency throughout the process. HDB will be offering this service free of charge for now.

When the service is officially launched later in May, buyers will be able to access the portal and begin transacting with sellers.

Currently, only property agents can post listings on major property portals such as PropertyGuru and 99.co, both of which are paid services. Other platforms such as Ohmyhome and Carousell allow homeowners to list their flats themselves for free.

On the HDB portal, property listings will automatically be populated with details from HDB's database, including the address, flat type, floor area, and floor plan.

Each seller will only be able to post one listing per flat, preventing duplicate listings.

Sellers will receive a prompt if their asking price is at least 10% higher than the highest transacted price of comparable units nearby over the past six months. They will also be alerted if the price is unusually low.

In response to media queries, HDB stated that it reserves the right to remove listings from the portal that feature unrealistic pricing or misleading information, and may require sellers or their property agents to provide clarifications.

"The Government will not condone any behaviour that seeks to disrupt the market or inflame consumer sentiments, whether by sellers or property agents," it stated.

HDB added that if property agents are suspected of professional misconduct, it will work with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) to investigate and take enforcement action.

On 8 May, the Ministry of National Development, HDB, and CEA flagged two HDB flat listings that were put up for sale at S$2 million.

The authorities noted that the listing for two adjacent five-room flats in Sengkang marketed as a jumbo flat was "misleading", while the asking price for another five-room flat in Toa Payoh was "unrealistic".

To make the HDB portal a "one-stop platform" for buyers, the resale flat listing service will be integrated with financial calculators, housing loan listing services, and information from buyers' HFE letters.

HDB stated that buyers will also be able to compare resale flat listings against new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in terms of price and remaining lease, enabling them to evaluate both options more holistically and make more informed homebuying decisions.

At the same time, sellers or their property agents can list their flats and carry out resale transactions all on the same platform.

HDB noted that during the soft launch starting 13 May, eligible sellers will be contacted via email to list their flats on the platform early. They may also appoint property agents to act on their behalf.

Transactions will not be available during the soft launch period.

The Board stated that the service was developed in consultation with the public and industry stakeholders, including real estate agencies and property portals. This service will help filter out non-genuine buyers and sellers.

As sellers must register an Intent to Sell before listing their units on the portal, this will deter sellers and property agents from putting up advertisements simply to "test the market".

The rollout of this official service will also curb industry practices where property agents post duplicate or fictitious listings to attract clients or inflate their listing volumes.