THE number of resale condominium units that changed hands fell 18.4 per cent to 738 units in September, compared with the 905 units resold in August.

Resale prices, meanwhile, continued to rise for the second straight month, albeit at a slightly lower pace at 0.8 per cent, flash estimates from 99.co and SRX showed on Thursday (Oct 26).

“Most sellers are holding firm to their asking prices since the replacement cost of a new home is high, and inflationary pressures remain elevated,” said Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie’s senior vice-president of research and analytics.

ERA Singapore key executive officer Eugene Lim said that sellers of resale condos have been increasing their asking prices as new project launches have been setting benchmark prices.

Year on year, overall prices were up 7.6 per cent. Volumes were down 35.9 per cent and 22 per cent lower than the five-year average volumes for the month of September. Resale prices in the Core Central Region (CCR) rose 0.5 per cent while Rest of Central Region (RCR) rose 1.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, prices in the Outside Central Region (OCR) fell 0.4 per cent on the month.

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On a year-on-year basis, all regions recorded price gains, with the RCR leading at 8.1 per cent, followed by the OCR at 7.7 per cent and the CCR rising 3.8 per cent.

More than half – 53.1 per cent – of resale volumes were for OCR units, followed by 31.4 per cent from the RCR and 15.5 per cent from the CCR.

Wong Siew Ying, PropNex’s head of research and content, noted that the hike in Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty rates continues to exert a disproportionate effect on the CCR – which tends to see more investment demand compared to other sub-markets.

“Furthermore, the tentative market sentiment could also have kept some prospective home buyers on the sidelines as they wait for more certainty before making a purchase,” she added.

The number of sub-sale transactions, or secondary sales inked before the project is completed, stood at 10.8 per cent in September 2023.

This was 1.2 percentage points lower than the 12 per cent recorded in August 2023.

The most expensive resale unit transacted in the month was S$32 million for a unit at Goodwood Residence. In the RCR, the highest transacted price was S$7.3 million for a unit at The Cascadia and S$4.1 million for a Seaside Residences unit in the OCR.

The overall median capital gain for resale condos was S$350,000 in September, up $32,000 from August.

District 21 (Clementi, Upper Bukit Timah) posted the highest median capital gain at S$894,000, while District 1 (Boat Quay, Raffles Place, Marina) recorded the lowest median capital gain at S$14,000.