Loss-making residential resale deals hit five-year low

THE proportion of loss-making residential property transactions in the secondary market fell to its lowest level in five years in the first quarter of 2023, despite rising interest rates and mounting economic headwinds. 

According to data consolidated for The Business Times by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield, just 4.2 per cent of all resale transactions in Q1 2023 made losses – marginally lower than the previous quarter’s 4.5 per cent and nearly a quarter of Q1 2019’s 18.2 per cent. Cushman & Wakefield based its analysis on matched caveats lodged for landed and non-landed private homes. 

Loss-making exits peaked in Q2 2020, at 21.8 per cent of resale deals, the data showed. This was during the early stages of the pandemic, when “circuit-breaker” measures were introduced and market uncertainty was at its highest, said Wong Xian Yang, research head at Cushman & Wakefield.