Singapore condo resale prices up 0.5% in February from January: SRX

SINGAPORE condo resale prices increased for the first time in February, up 0.5 per cent from January, after two consecutive months of cooling in December and January, according to monthly figures from real estate portal SRX Property on Tuesday.

It was the largest price increase since July 2018, with year-on-year prices up by 4.6 per cent compared to February 2018.

Prices were up 0.2 per cent in the core central region and 0.8 per cent in the city fringes, or rest of central region. The suburbs, or outside central region, followed suit with prices rising 0.5 per cent.

February prices were 0.9 per cent lower than the peak in July 2018, when property cooling measures were announced.

An estimated 523 units were resold in February, representing an 8.7 per cent decrease from the 573 units resold in January, and a sharper 56.7 per cent decrease from the 1,207 units resold in February 2018.

OrangeTee & Tie head of research and consultancy Christine Sun said that taking the cue from the primary market which has seen price resilience in many new project launches, sellers in the secondary market had also increased their asking prices in recent months.

On the fewer number of units sold, Ms Sun said that as resale condos are generally larger in size than new condos, the price quantum of resale homes may breach the affordability threshold of buyers when the units are pegged too close to the prices of new homes on a per square foot basis. Therefore, some potential buyers may have turned to the primary market, where smaller but more affordable options are available.

She added that the effects of the cooling measures and uncertainties surrounding the global economy may continue to weigh on the resale market. Competition for buyers may also intensify as more than 60 new projects are slated to be launched this year.