An online survey of 1,000 local Singaporeans was conducted late last year to gauge satisfaction with the current property market, affordability and perceptions of policies. They found that while the market satisfaction and property environment indicators rose in the survey, the affordability indicator dropped significantly.

More than half of these people felt that housing was "expensive" or "too expensive" in the second half of last year, and nearly 40% felt that they "seemed" or "definitely" could not afford a home. Definitely" can't afford to buy a house anymore. Both of these perceptions are up significantly from the first half of last year, with 24% of respondents likely to simply not buy a home.

One very noteworthy aspect of the survey is that more than 30% of respondents are considering applying for a HDB flat, despite the fact that it usually takes four to five years before it is ready for occupation. This is almost double the 16 per cent increase from the previous survey. Nearly half of those aged between 22 and 29 want to do so because they can only afford to pre-purchase a HDB flat.

However, despite the high percentage in the survey, the number of people actually applying to pre-purchase HDB flats continues to be low. The number of applicants for HDB flats in Singapore hit a three-year low in February.

HDB also said in a statement on March 6 that the number of applicants in the sale, which was the lowest since February 2020, was about half of the number in the past 11 rounds of sales, with particularly few first-time buyers.

Analysts believe that the drop in applications for this round of sales may be due to the fact that projects in non-established areas are in less desirable locations and less attractive than previous launches. Some projects are located on the edge of town, far from the MRT station. Also, some first-time buyers are turning to the resale HDB market due to the increase in CPF housing allowance.

In a recent development in the HDB resale market, the overall resale prices of local HDB flats were flat last month for the first time after 32 consecutive months of increases, with SRX and 99.co calculating estimates based on HDB resale transaction data showing that resale prices in both mature and non-mature HDB areas edged down by 0.1 per cent in February compared to the previous month.

In terms of transaction volume, an estimated 1,849 units were sold last month, a decrease of about 28% from the previous month and almost 3% year-on-year.

A total of 24 units were sold for at least S$1 million last month, 16 units less than the previous month. This in turn reflects a price correction in the resale HDB market.

Faced with new patterns in both the pre-buy and resale HDB markets, how should Singaporeans, especially young first-time buyers, choose when they are at the crossroads of buying a home?

In fact, the Singapore government has been paying close attention to the problems encountered by HDB flats in recent years. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has publicly stated that the rise in resale rental prices is due to the delay in the pre-sale HDB projects due to the epidemic, and that more pre-sale rental flats should be built in the future.

HDB also reported a deficit of S$4.3 billion for the 2021-2022 financial year, with S$3.85 billion of the deficit coming from the Home Ownership Scheme, nearly double the amount from the previous financial year. The deficit is expected to continue to grow as more new HDB flats are launched in the coming years.

In any case, home ownership is becoming increasingly difficult for young Singaporeans to start a new family. The number of viable options is diminishing, especially in a rental market where prices are also high. Despite the government's efforts, it will take time to address the high prices of housing due to inflation, rising material prices and project delays.