SINGAPORE: Prices of Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flats rose by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year, marking the slowest pace of growth in five quarters.

"This can be attributed to the sustained supply of Build-to-Order (BTO) flats, as well as the largest-ever Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise in February 2025," Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Apr 1).

According to flash estimates released by HDB, the resale price index rose 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year, down from the 2.6 per cent rise in the previous quarter and slower than the average quarterly growth of 2.3 per cent in 2024.

In tandem with the slower market conditions, the resale volume in the first quarter of this year - up to Mar 27 - is 6,392, said HDB. This is 7.7 per cent lower than that in the same period last year. Mr Lee said there are "early signs of moderation in price growth" for both the public and private housing markets.

"We are currently seeing some supply tightness in the resale market," said Mr Lee, noting that there were fewer flats reaching the Minimum Occupation period (MOP) in the last few years, partly due to COVID-19 construction delays.

However, the number of new flats reaching MOP will rise significantly from 8,000 this year to 13,500 next year, before increasing to 19,500 flats in 2028.

"This means that more resale flats are entering the market soon, and the supply tightness will ease," he said.

The government is also ramping up the supply of new HDB flats, with more than 50,000 BTO flats to be launched from 2025 to 2027 as previously announced.