Jadescape owner sells unit for S$4.4 million profit after 5 years, topping Q4 resale gains

A 4,230 square foot (sq ft) unit at Jadescape in Bishan was sold for S$10.2 million in December 2024, earning the seller a tidy profit of S$4.4 million – making it the most profitable transaction by quantum in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The penthouse unit at the 99-year leasehold condominium in District 20 was bought for nearly half that, at S$5.8 million or S$1,371 per square foot (psf), back in December 2019. This is according to data crunched for The Business Times by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

On a psf basis, the unit was sold for S$2,399 psf in December 2024.

This made for the highest transaction price for the project as at Jan 20 and the second highest price on a psf basis, noted Cushman & Wakefield research head Wong Xian Yang. Overall median prices at Jadescape was S$2,184 psf in 2024, up around 25 per cent from S$1,739 in 2020.

With a holding period of five years, the annualised profit works out to 11.9 per cent. The seller’s gross gain amounted to about 75 per cent, more than double the 33 per cent rise in the overall private residential price index between Q4 2019 and Q3 2024.

Caveats data also indicated there were just 36 non-landed residential transactions, excluding executive condos (ECs), that exceeded S$10 million in 2024. Such transactions accounted for around 0.2 per cent of all non-landed home transactions last year, said Wong.

Among the 36 transactions, four were located in the Rest of Central Region, or city fringe, while the rest were in the prime Core Central Region (CCR), he added.

The majority of buyers for such transactions, at 56 per cent, were permanent residents, Wong pointed out. Singaporeans accounted for around 28 per cent of buyers, and the remaining 16 per cent of buyers were foreigners and companies.

In terms of percentage gains, EC transactions proved again to be the most profitable in the final quarter of 2024, continuing a trend that emerged in Q1 2023.

Profits ranged between 112 and 122 per cent, with the biggest winners being the homeowners who held on to their units for an average of nearly a decade, said Wong.

Topping the list was a 958 sq ft unit at the 99-year leasehold Hundred Palms Residences EC along Yio Chu Kang Road in District 19. It was sold for S$1.8 million (S$1,900 psf) in December 2024. This was 122 per cent more than the unit’s original price of S$818,300 (S$854 psf) in July 2017. Given the holding period of 7.4 years, the annualised profit worked out to 11.3 per cent.

Excluding ECs, three of the five top-percentage gainers were for units in the suburban Outside Central Region (OCR) and the remaining two from the RCR. The most profitable deal by percentage was a freehold Rising Court unit in the RCR.

Turning to loss-making deals, a 2,530 sq ft unit at freehold Orchard View emerged as the biggest loser by quantum in Q4. The District 9 unit changed hands for S$7 million (S$2,767 psf) in October 2024. This was 14 per cent lower than its original price of S$8.1 million (S$3,220 psf) in June 2012.

Based on a holding period of 12.3 years, this translates to annualised losses of 1.2 per cent.

By percentage, the deal that spilled the most red ink was an 861 sq ft unit at Altez at Enggor Street in District 2. It was sold for S$1.5 million (S$1,777 psf) in October 2024, down 27 per cent from the previous price of S$2.1 million (S$2,419 psf) in July 2012. That works out to annualised losses of 2.5 per cent, given a holding period of 12.3 years.

Almost all the biggest losers in Q4, save one, were located in the CCR and purchased during varying periods of the market cycle, Wong said. Half were freehold properties, while the other half were 99-year leasehold ones.

For its study, Cushman & Wakefield examined caveats for non-landed private homes that were transacted in Q4 2024 with a prior purchase history between January 2012 and December 2024. The analysis excluded transaction costs and taxes, such as buyer stamp duty and seller stamp duty.

Overall, prime CCR properties accounted for 53 per cent of loss-making deals in Q4 2024, caveat data of landed and non-landed private homes showed. The RCR accounted for 28 per cent of such deals, and the OCR 19 per cent.

Wong highlighted that even though the CCR accounted for the majority of loss-making deals, most of the sales – at 81 per cent – were profitable.

The proportion of loss-making deals in the landed and non-landed sectors also inched up to 3.3 per cent in Q4, from 2.6 per cent in both Q3 and Q2.

Still, Wong noted that this figure remains low – especially when compared to previous years, which saw a larger proportion of such deals at 4.1 per cent or more. It had peaked in Q2 2020 at 21.8 per cent and has been on a fairly steady decline since then.

Wong reckons the overall levels of loss-making deals will remain low this year, barring new cooling measures and unforeseen economic shocks. “Declining mortgage rates have slightly boosted buyer affordability, but further affordability improvements in 2025 may be muted, as the pace of interest rate declines is expected to decelerate.”

Private home prices also remain firm, with Wong predicting an increase of around 3 per cent year on year in 2025. This is due to resilient upgrading demand for private housing amid still-low unemployment rates and healthy household balance sheets, he said.