Two units at The Ritz-Carlton Residences sold for S$16.5 million each, or $S5,397 psf

TWO adjacent units in luxury development The Ritz-Carlton Residences Singapore, Cairnhill were recently sold for S$16.5 million each or S$5,397 per square feet (psf) – making it the first time since June 2023 that prices in the prime residential market have crossed the S$5,000 psf mark. 

Based on caveats data from URA Realis, the two units are each 3,057 square feet (sq ft) in size and sit on the 33rd floor of the 58-unit freehold development in District 9. They were transacted on Jan 9 for a total of S$33 million.

Last June, when transaction prices for luxury homes in the prime Core Central Region (CCR) last crossed the S$5,000 psf mark, a 6,179 sq ft unit on the second floor of luxury condo Les Maisons Nassim in District 10 was sold for S$32.7 million, or S$5,300 psf. 

On a psf basis, CCR prices hit their highest in 2011, when a 3,089 sq ft unit at The Marq on Paterson Hill went for S$6,650 psf or S$20.5 million. The priciest apartment sold in Singapore to date is a Les Maison Nassim penthouse that went for S$75 million or S$6,210 psf, in October 2021.

The latest sale, while not a record for the CCR, marked a new high for the Ritz-Carlton project, where the psf price hit S$4,907 in October 2021, for a 3,057 sq ft unit on the 31st floor. That unit transacted at S$15 million.

Still, some analysts cautioned that this is unlikely to signal a recovery in the prime sector, where foreign buying has evaporated since the hike in Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) last April. 

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According to EdgeProp, the two Ritz-Carlton units were bought separately by Yuan Yonggang, chairman of Chinese manufacturing company Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co, and his wife, Wang Wenjuan. Both are understood to be permanent residents (PRs) in Singapore. 

Alan Cheong, Savills Singapore executive director of research and consultancy, said that if these units are the couple’s first home purchases in Singapore, they would each face an ABSD of 5 per cent. This would amount to around S$825,000 in ABSD for each unit. 

The 5 per cent ABSD for PRs is “quite a reasonable amount” compared to other cities in the world, said Cheong. In Hong Kong, for instance, non-permanent residents now pay Buyer’s Stamp Duty of 7.5 per cent. This was lowered from 15 per cent in October last year to revive the property market.

“The elephant in the room (remains) the high ABSD ... Foreigners still need to pay 60 per cent in ABSD. This is a real dampener for demand,” Cheong said. This is especially so for the prime CCR market, demand in which is typically driven by foreign buyers.

The latest Ritz-Carlton deals were brokered by PropNex. Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content, said the buyers had purchased the property since it “ticked all the boxes” and met their needs. 

“That being said, we reckon one swallow doesn’t make a summer, and two such deals do not necessarily signal that wealthy Chinese buyers are returning in a significant way,” she said. 

Data from URA Realis showed that since the doubling in ABSD rates for foreigners, the number of foreign home buyers in the CCR has plunged. In December last year, just 14 non-landed private homes were bought by foreign non-permanent residents, compared to 74 such buys in December 2022.

This trend is likely to continue so long as ABSD rates remain “insurmountably” high, said Cheong.

Nonetheless, Huttons’ senior director of data analytics Lee Sze Teck pointed out that there has been a pickup in interest in large, prime luxury homes among China buyers since the start of 2024. “Many of them have made arrangements to view properties during the Chinese New Year period,” he said.