From tomorrow - 13 May 2024, HDB flat owners (or their appointed real estate agents) can decide to sell their Housing Board flats directly through HDB's Flat Portal online
From tomorrow - 13 May 2024, HDB flat owners (or their appointed real estate agents) can decide to sell their Housing Board flats directly through HDB's Flat Portal online. Buyers will be able to access the listings and begin transactions with sellers when the service is officially launched later in May. The date has yet to be announced.
HDB said it would reach out to eligible flat sellers by e-mail from the soft launch on May 13 to provide them early access to list their homes on the platform. They can also appoint property agents to do so on their behalf.
On the HDB Flat Portal, listings will be automatically filled with details such as the address, flat type, floor area and floor plan from HDB’s data. Each seller can post only one flat listing, so that there are no duplicate listings. HDB want to use this HDB Online Flat Portal to sieve out buyers and sellers who are not genuine. Transactions cannot be carried out during the soft launch period.
This latest enhancement to the Housing & Development Board (HDB)'s online portal aims to streamline the process of buying and selling a flat, with the intention to provide buyers and sellers access to secure property transactions as well as improved services by property agents.
HDB will reserve the right to remove listings which have unrealistic pricing or contain misleading information from their HDB Flat Portal and may seek further clarifications from the sellers or their property agents when a listing is deemed to be too highly priced or below market value.
The listing will be automatically filled with details such as the address, flat type and floor area. PHOTO: HDB
Sellers of Housing Board Flats
- Sellers must have an intent to sell registered with HDB in order to list and market their flat themselves. They can also appoint a property agent to manage the listing on their behalf.
- When they create a listing, it will be automatically filled with details such as the address, flat type, floor area and floor plan, which is retrieved from HDB’s data. Sellers will only need to upload photos and descriptions of their flat.
- They can also indicate their preference for extension of stay and contra, which is a process in which an owner is looking to sell his unit and buy another, and want both transactions to be executed at the same time.
- Sellers will be prompted if their listing price is at least 10 per cent above the highest transacted price of similar units nearby in the past six months.
- Once listed, sellers can create viewing appointments that interested buyers with a valid HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter can book. Each seller can only post one flat listing, so that there are no duplicate listings.
- Once their flat buyer submits a request for value, which has to be done a day after being granted the option to purchase, the listing would automatically be taken down.
- HDB reserves the right to remove listings with unrealistic pricing or contain misleading information from their portal after seeking clarifications from the sellers or their property agents.
Buyers with a valid HFE letter can schedule viewing appointments with sellers on the HDB Flat Portal. PHOTO: HDB
Source: HDB
Source: HDB
Buyers of Housing Board Flats
- Any prospective flat buyer can browse the resale listings on the HDB flat portal, but only those with a valid HFE letter can obtain the sellers’ contact details and schedule viewing appointments.
- An HFE letter indicates a buyer’s eligibility to buy a flat, receive grants and take up a housing loan.
- Buyers can filter searches by location, flat type, remaining lease or by their ethnicity and citizenship under the Ethnic Integration Policy and Singapore permanent resident quotas.
- A resale flat listing will show the recent transacted prices of similar flats nearby, amenities in the area and ethnicity and citizenship quotas.
- On the portal, buyers can also view information about current and upcoming new flat launches such as Build-To-Order and Sale of Balance Flats. They can choose up to three flats to compare attributes such as remaining lease and preliminary payment plans such as the monthly loan repayment amount and cash payment.
- Buyers with an HFE letter can view personalised payment plans based on their approved housing grant and HDB loan amount, so that they can more accurately assess if the shortlisted flats are within their budget, HDB said.
- After the buyers have exercised their option to purchase, they can submit their resale application on the HDB Flat Portal.
- To make the HDB Flat Portal a “one-stop platform” for buyers, the resale flat listing service will be integrated with financial calculators, loan listing services and information on the buyer’s HFE letter. Buyers can also compare resale flat listings with new Build-To-Order flats on aspects such as price and remaining lease, so that they can consider both options and make more informed decisions on their flat purchase.
Buyers can choose up to three flats to compare attributes such as remaining lease and preliminary payment plans. PHOTO: HDB
Property agents will have a personalised dashboard on the HDB Flat Portal, which gives them an overview of their clients – both buyers and sellers. - Photo: HDB
Property Agents
- Property agents will have a personalised dashboard on the HDB Flat Portal, which gives them an overview of their clients – both buyers and sellers.
- HDB said this will help them provide “value-added services” for their clients, such as budgeting and advising them on the next steps.
- They can create listings and viewing appointments for sellers, and help buyers to search, shortlist and compare flats.
- The service will be free of charge for the time being.
- Currently, real estate agents can put up listings on major real estate property portals such as PropertyGuru and 99.co which charges yearly subscription fees before the agents can list the property on the portals for their clients and buying credits to boost listings for greater buyer visibility.
The Housing & Development Board (HDB) is Singapore's public housing authority and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development that is committed to providing affordable and accessible housing options to Singaporeans for every budget and need. This new service on its HDB Flat Portal was developed in collaboration with the public and industry stakeholders, including real estate agencies and property portals.
Real estate market analyst Kiwi Lim believe "The Housing & Development Board (HDB) already had plans to introduce this service online in future, but pushed forward their plans to launch it tomorrow partly due to the strong market reaction from the two recent cases where agents marketed $2 million HDB listings which HDB felt was misleading"
"I think the government wants to prevent more copycats who may also list their HDB flats at unrealistic prices to disrupt the market or fan consumer sentiment especially when Singapore's General Election is just around the corner and the new Prime Minister needs a strong mandate from the people." said Kiwi Lim who has been analysing the property market for more than 10 years.
Recently, it was reported a property agent listed two adjacent five-room flats in Sengkang that was marketed as a jumbo flat was deemed as “misleading” by HDB and HDB felt another listing by another property agent for a five-room flat in Toa Payoh had an unrealistic asking price of $2 million especially when HDB discovered the sellers may have no intention to do so as they had not done their "intent to sell" on HDB Portal before listing it.
This move by HDB is to improve HDB resale buyer and seller's experience and ensure transparency as the resale flat listing service aims to become a trusted listing marketplace for genuine buyers and sellers. Flat sellers may request for a 35 page HDB seller's guide to using the portal here.
Above are extracted and compiled from Straits Times and HDB websites on 12 May 2024
RSS Feed
