Singapore condo resale volumes drop 3.8% in September: SRX

SINGAPORE resale condominium volumes dipped in September after rising in August and July, while prices continued to rise for the 14th straight month, according to flash figures from SRX Property on Tuesday.

"In the absence of major launches in September, buyers turned to the resale market for their housing needs," said Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip.

SRX noted a 3.8 per cent drop in resale volumes in September to 1,736 resold units, from 1,805 units that changed hands in August. Volumes were 35.9 per cent higher year on year and 84.1 per cent more than the 5-year average volumes for the month of September.

OrangeTee & Tie's senior vice-president of research and analytics Christine Sun said: "Sales were slightly slower on a month-on-month basis as viewing restrictions were tightened during Singapore's stabilisation phase from Sep 27, and the Hungry Ghost Month ended only in early September."

A majority, or 60.3 per cent, of transactions took place in the suburban or outside of central region (OCR). About 23.5 per cent of volumes came from the rest of central region (RCR), and 16.2 per cent was from the core central region (CCR).

Overall resale prices in September 2021 rose 1 per cent from the month before and were up 8.9 per cent year on year.

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All regions experienced price increases, with the CCR, RCR and OCR rising 1.1 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively. Year on year, the CCR gained 9.1 per cent, the OCR rose 9 per cent, while the RCR advanced 8.6 per cent.

Sun said market sentiment is likely to remain positive as Singapore embarks on its endemic roadmap as well as more restrictions being lifted in the coming months. A rise in the number of vaccinated travel lanes may also result in more foreign buyers entering the property market.

Although the spike in foreign purchases may not be immediate as the additional buyers' stamp duty is still in place, transaction volume for foreign buyers will likely be higher, she added. The resale market may also see additional lift from returning PRs and Singaporeans.

Yip noted that with price resistance in the HDB resale market setting in, there will be a "knock-on effect" on prices and transaction volume of private homes in the OCR in the months ahead.

SRX said the highest transacted price in September was for a resale unit at Le Nouvel Ardmore, resold for S$26.3 million In the RCR, the most expensive resale unit was at Reflections at Keppel Bay that resold for S$7.5 million, while the OCR's highest transacted price was for a unit at Mandarin Gardens that resold for S$4.1 million.

The overall median capital gain stood at S$233,500 in September, up S$40,500 from August.

District 10 (Tanglin, Holland and Bukit Timah) posted the highest median capital gain at S$555,000, while District 4 (Sentosa, Harbourfront) posted the lowest median capital gain at S$30,000.

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