AIMING FOR CRITICAL MASS
It’s still early days and prospective buyers may find the 800 or so listings on HDB’s service to be scant offerings.
“The key for the HDB resale (flat listing service) is to grow to hit critical mass as buyers want to go to a platform to see majority of the listings and not have to hop around many different platforms during their search,” said Mr Choa.
Finance executive Sankeri Balakrishnan, who’s looking for a place in Hougang or Sengkang, told CNA that only two listings on HDB’s portal have interested her so far.
“PropertyGuru … there are so many houses over there, whereas on HDB it’s still very limited,” said the 27-year-old.
Still, it has helped her cast a wider net in her hunt.
Realtors similarly described the portal as an additional avenue of exposure and advertising for their clients’ properties, alongside other platforms.
Ms Sankeri, who started looking at resale flats after unsuccessfully balloting for a Build-to-Order flat a few times, particularly appreciates HDB’s calendar function, which lets buyers choose a viewing slot.
With more choices, and perhaps the ability to subscribe to listing alerts based on her preferences and budget, she’s hopeful the new service will help her finally find her dream home.
