October condo resale prices surge for 15th straight month; volumes fall further: 99.co, SRX

SINGAPORE condo resale prices in October continued to rise for the 15 straight month, with month-on-month prices rising 0.7 per cent, and year-on-year, 9 per cent according to flash figures by 99.co and SRX Property.

All regions have seen increases in price, with core central region (CCR) growing 8.6 per cent, rest of central region (RCR) increasing 8.3 per cent and out of central region (OCR) rising 9.4 per cent.

"Currently, there seem to be more buyers than sellers in the market especially in the suburbs where many HDB upgraders are looking for replacement homes after selling their flats in recent months. As the supply of new homes remains tight in the mass market region, prices rose the most by 9.4 per cent year-on-year in the Outside of Central Region," said Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics, OrangeTee & Tie.

The resale condo volume however, continued its decline in October with about 1,578 units changing hands.The fall of 6.3 per cent for October comes after a drop in September following August and July's rises in volume. However, year-on-year resale volumes are up 9 per cent.

"One contributing factor to the declining resale condominium transactions was the decreasing number of resale condo units offered for sale. Although some condo buyers are willing to pay the higher asking prices, some owners are not offering their condo units for sale as the owners in their condominium developments prepare for the collective sale process, which could take more than a year to complete," said Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy, ERA.

The currently safe management measures are likely to continue to weigh on the resale market, as Sun notes that some buyers may prefer to inspect and check the condition of the unit before purchasing.

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The bulk of the resale condo transactions, 60.1 per cent, took place in OCR, with the remainder made up of RCR at 21.7 per cent, and CCR at 18.3 per cent.

With the opening up of vaccinated travel lanes, Sun believes that as families travel during the holidays, sales activities may start to wind down towards the year-end. Sales could pick up again in January after the holiday break.

Meanwhile, developers' landbanks are drying up, with Mak noting that this will likely see them turning to government land sales and the private enbloc market to replenish their inventories. This could see more older condos contemplating starting the enbloc sale process.

"The result of steady demand for resale condo units and declining supply of such resale units is that condo prices would continue to increase in the coming months," he said.

The highest transacted price for a resale unit in CCR was at Seven Palms Sentosa Cove where a 6,060 square feet (sq ft) unit sold for S$19.7 million or S$ 3,251 per square foot (psf) according to 99 and SRX. In RCR, a 3,617 sq ft unit at Reflections at Keppel Bay was the highest transacted price for S$6.4 million or S$1,770, while in OCR a 2,885 sq ft unit at Breeze By the East sold for S$3.5 million or S$1,196.

The overall median capital gain for October stood at S$220,960, down S$12,540 from September.

District 21 (Clementi Park/ Upper Bukit Timah) posted the highest median capital gain of S$590,000, while District 4 (Harbourfront/ Telok Blangah) was the only district that posted a median capital loss of S$63,280.

99 and SRX calculates capital gain or loss of a condo resale unit by comparing the current transacted price with the previous transacted price of the same unit. Capital gain data only include districts with more than 10 matching transactions.