Singapore condo resale volume hits two-year high in Aug: SRX

Vivienne Tay
Published Tue, Sep 8, 2020 · 03:31 AM

RESALE volume of non-landed private homes in Singapore hit a two-year high in August 2020, with an estimated 1,052 units resold in the month, up 7 per cent from the 983 units resold in July 2020.

Overall resale prices edged up 0.4 per cent month on month and year on year, according to flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property on Tuesday.

This comes as the property market recovers from the slowdown encountered during Singapore's "circuit-breaker" period, benefiting from pent-up demand.

Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie, said August 2020's "stellar sales" for the private resale market seem to be in tandem with the positive sales trends observed in other market segments.

These market segments include the HDB resale market and Build-To-Order sales which have shown similarly strong levels of demand. Citing URA caveat data, Ms Sun said new home sales, excluding executive condominiums, hit more than 1,200 units in August during the Hungry Ghost Month. This was the highest sales achieved over the last 12 months.

By region, SRX said 59.5 per cent of the units sold came from sales in the outside of central region (OCR), 20.8 per cent from the core central region (CCR) and 19.7 per cent from the rest of central region (RCR) or city fringes.

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Condo prices in the CCR and RCR declined year on year by 3.1 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively, while OCR prices rose by 2.8 per cent.

Nicholas Mak, ERA Realty's head of research and consultancy, said the stable price index and expanding resale volume in August indicated that sellers were not cutting prices significantly to sell their properties.

"At the same time, some homebuyers were defying the Hungry Ghost Month to seal the property deals," he added.

Hilltops fetched the highest transacted price for a resale unit in the month, with a unit resold for S$8.4 million. In the RCR, the highest transacted price was S$5.1 million for a unit at Amber Skye, while the OCR's highest transacted price was for a unit at Grand Duchess at St Patrick's, resold for S$3.6 million.

In August, SRX's overall transaction over X-value (TOX) came in at negative S$3,000, up S$7,000 from negative S$10,000 in July 2020.

District 1 (Boat Quay, Raffles Place, Marina) posted the highest median TOX at positive S$22,600, while District 10 (Tanglin, Holland, Bukit Timah) posted the lowest median TOX at negative S$33,5000.

TOX measures how much a buyer is overpaying (positive value) or underpaying (negative value) for a property based on SRX's computer-generated market value. The data includes only districts with more than 10 resale transactions.

Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, said the upturn in sales in recent months likely signalled that the worst is over, paving the way for resale market activities to return to normal.

"We would expect resale prices to be relatively flat in the coming months, as the gloomy economic prospects and muted sentiment weigh on sellers' ability to raise asking prices substantially," she said.

Ms Wong added that buyers are likely to be cautious and prudent in their purchase, mindful of potential downside risks ahead, including the weaker hiring market.

Ms Sun said for many Singaporeans, residential properties may still be a "safer bet", especially for investors who are looking for stable returns during times of uncertainty.

"The market exuberance from the primary market may have also spread to the secondary market as opportunistic buyers are currently on the look-out for under-valued resale properties in the market," she said.

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