Singapore condo resale volumes hit 11-year high, prices up 1.5% in April: SRX

HDB upgraders were likely drivers of condominium resale transactions in April, property analysts noted after resale volumes hit an 11-year high according to flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property. 

There were 1,993 units resold in April 2021 - the highest monthly volume seen since April 2010. There was a 7.9 per cent increase in volumes from 1,847 units resold in March 2021.

Year on year, April 2021's volumes were six times that of April 2020's resale volumes and more than double the five-year average volumes for the month of April.

Meanwhile, overall resale prices continued to climb, rising 1.5 per cent month on month and up 5.8 per cent on the year. 

SRX attributed 56.9 per cent of resale volumes to units in the outside of central region (OCR). Meanwhile, the rest of central region (RCR) and core central region (CCR) each contributed 23.7 per cent and 19.5 per cent of volumes.

Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie senior vice-president of research and analytics, said the resale market appears to be “propped up” by a large proportion of HDB upgraders as more than half of the resale volume was in the OCR. 

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“Many HDB flat owners have sold their flats in recent months and are searching for affordable, completed homes,” she said.

SRX noted price increases in all regions, with the CCR and RCR each gaining 1.2 per cent, while the OCR advanced by 1.7 per cent. Year on year, the CCR, RCR and OCR increased by 2.6 per cent, 5.5 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively.

ERA Realty head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak said construction delays for HDB build-to-order (BTO) flats have also led to the surge in demand for condos in the resale market. 

Delays in BTO flats may have led to higher demand and hence higher prices for resale flats. Thus, HDB resale flat sellers benefiting from the price increase can now afford to upgrade to private resale condos in the OCR.

Separately, Huttons Asia research director Lee Sze Teck said the ban on long-term visit pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to India will likely cause further delays to projects under construction. 

PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying said the demand for resale properties will likely remain healthy, supported by buyers who prefer “move-in ready” properties to avoid uncertainty around completion delays. 

“The substantial price gap between new sale and resale properties may also encourage some buyers who have a tighter budget to look at the resale market,” she added.

According to SRX, a unit at Leedon Residence fetched the highest transacted price in April at S$13.8 million. In the RCR, a unit at The Meyerise was the most expensive, resold for S$5.2 million. In the OCR, the highest transacted price was for a unit at Ocean Park resold for S$3.2 million.

The overall median capital gain stood at S$200,000 in April 2021, up S$20,500 from March 2021.

District 21 (Clementi and Upper Bukit Timah) posted the highest median capital gain at S$486,250, while District 4 (Sentosa and Harbourfront) posted the highest median capital loss at negative S$54,880.

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.