Earlier this year, the Housing Development Board (HDB) launched a new online service that allows owners and/or their agents to list their homes for sale directly on the HDB Flat Portal for free. This is great news for both buyers and sellers – buyers can now browse through a wider selection of resale flats and get information more easily, while sellers can also reach out to a larger pool of potential buyers. But what about property agents? Let’s take a closer look.

How Does the Resale Flat Listing (RFL) by HDB Work

Take note that all sellers must have an Intent to Sell, while all buyers need to have a HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter – which indicates your eligibility to buy a flat, receive grants, and financing options – to access all the Resale Flat Listing (RFL) platform features.

Sellers can then list their flat, with key details like the address, flat type, and floor area auto-populated. Next, you must include the following:

• Listing price: There’ll be a prompt if the set price is more than 10% above the highest transacted price for similar units in the surrounding area over the past six months.
• Photographs: You may include up to ten images of the flat.
• Listing description: You may highlight standout features of your flat and the neighbourhood.
• Contact details: For buyers and/or their salespersons to contact you.
• Other details: You can indicate if you require a Temporary Extension of Stay, or the Enhanced Contra Facility.

As for buyers, many tools on the portal are integrated, allowing you to easily compare new Build-To-Order (BTO) and resale flats at once, such as their flat classification , remaining lease, preliminary payment plans, and more. Additionally, you can also easily obtain contact details of the sellers to schedule viewing appointments.

Implications of the Resale Flat Listing (RFL) for Buyers, Sellers & Agents

The Resale Flat Listing by HDB has changed the property marketplace in Singapore, bringing about several notable implications for buyers, sellers, and agents.

1. Increased access for buyers & sellers

Previously, only real estate agents who pay fees can list on property portals such as PropertyGuru and 99.co. Meanwhile, homeowners themselves can list on platforms like Mogul.sg for a fee of S$150 or Ohmyhome and Carousell for free. This has led to asymmetric information in the property market. Agents, with their access to a wider pool of listings and expertise in the market, have more information than homeowners listing independently. This in turn disadvantages buyers who might miss out on resale properties not listed with agents or struggle to assess the credibility of listings by homeowners. Now, both buyers and sellers can access a wider range of listings directly through the HDB platform. Another question on everyone’s mind will probably be this – given that it’s much easier to list your flat now, do we actually need property agents in Singapore anymore? Selling a house yourself can be a lot of work and agents still play a valuable role. They can help vet interested buyers, schedule viewing appointments, settle the huge amount of paperwork, and offer their own unique expertise.

2. Higher transparency (and less likely on flipping for sale)

Additionally, regulations implemented by HDB standards help in ensuring a fair market for all participants. For instance, units with unrealistic prices are taken down and duplicate listings are not allowed. Buyers themselves also must have an HFE letter to schedule appointments. All these rules help prevent both parties from being misled, creating a more transparent and integrated platform for resale buyers, sellers, and agents.

Final Thoughts on HDB’s Resale Flat Listing (RFL)

Overall, HDB’s new resale flat listing service is pretty beneficial to both buyers and sellers as it serves as a regulated and additional avenue for marketing.

However, RFL remains to be seen if it can rival the major property portals due to its smaller audience and lack of options such as private condominiums and landed houses. But as the service evolves and expands, it has the potential to become a more competitive option in the Singapore property market.