THE number of condominium resale transactions continued to fall for the third straight month in July 2022, although prices maintained their upward trend for the 24th month in a row.

Around 1,248 resale units changed hands in July, according to flash estimates from SRX and 99.co published on Wednesday (Aug 10). This was 6.7 per cent lower than the 1,338 units resold in June, and 30.7 per cent lower than a year ago.

Property analysts attributed rising interest rates and a mismatch in price expectations between buyers and sellers as possible reasons for the dampening of demand.

“The increase in interest rates is pricing some buyers out of the resale market. The 3-month SORA (Singapore Overnight Rate Average) went up by 0.5 percentage point in July while fixed-rate loan interest exceeded 3 per cent,” opined Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip.

99 Group head of research Pow Ying Khuan said some buyers may have considered opting for public housing instead due to the accessibility of HDB home loans, which have a fixed interest rate of 2.6 per cent.

That being said, resale volumes in July were 4.4 per cent higher than the 5-year average volumes for the month of July, SRX and 99.co noted. 

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More than half (59.1 per cent) of resale volumes were from the outside central region (OCR), followed by 24.6 per cent from the rest of central region (RCR) and 16.3 per cent from the core central region (CCR).

Resale prices continued to rise in July 2022, gaining 1.2 per cent month on month and 9.8 per cent year on year. All regions experienced price increases, with the OCR, CCR and RCR advancing 1.5 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

Year on year, resale prices in the OCR, RCR and CCR were up 10.9 per cent, 9.4 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively.

OrangeTee & Tie’s senior vice-president of research and analytics Christine Sun said the rise in overall prices may have led to a mismatch in price expectations between buyers and sellers, causing demand to fall.

Some buyers may not be willing to match the asking prices of some sellers amid rising uncertainties surrounding global economics and increased interest rates.

“On the other hand, sellers have no pressure to cut prices. Some sellers still expect prices to rise further, given the robust housing demand from HDB upgraders and supply lag in the suburbs,” Sun said.

According to SRX and 99.co, the most expensive condo unit resold in July 2022 was a unit at Le Nouvel Ardmore, which transacted for S$22.3 million.

In the RCR, the highest transacted price was for a unit at Echelon resold for S$5.5 million, while the most expensive resale transaction in the OCR was for a unit at Double Bay Residences which changed hands at S$3.4 million.

The overall median capital gain for resale condos stood at S$291,144 in July, up S$10,489 from the previous month.

District 21 (Clementi Park, Upper Bukit Timah) posted the highest median capital gain at S$900,500, while District 13 (MacPherson, Potong Pasir) posted the lowest median capital gain at S$148,450.

The capital gain of a condo resale unit is calculated by comparing the current transacted price with the previous transacted price of the same unit. Districts with fewer than 10 matching transactions are excluded from the ranking, SRX and 99.co noted.