Blog

CONDO resale volumes dipped in September – a decrease which some analysts said came amid new project launches in the private market and more public housing options.

Based on flash estimates from SRX and 99.co released on Thursday (Oct 24), about 1,026 units were resold, representing a 5.3 per cent decrease from the 1,084 units transacted in August.

Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee, said: “The lower sales could be influenced by the anticipation of several new project launches lined up from September to November, where buyers have an increased array of home choices in the primary market.”

Similarly, Luqman Hakim, chief data and analytics officer at 99.co, also pointed out that the public housing options may have led to the decline.

“The ongoing October Build-To-Order exercise, featuring highly desirable flats in prime locations, might attract some first-time buyers, especially those who meet the income criteria, away from the condo market,” he said.

Other analysts highlighted that buyers could have been waiting for more interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve before making a decision.

Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at Singapore Realtors Inc, said: “Buyers may have been hoping for more favourable mortgage rates, prompting them to delay their purchase decisions until there was more clarity on the direction of interest rates.”

Volumes were 35.8 per cent higher year on year, and 4 per cent higher than the five-year average volume for the month of September. By region, more than half (52.6 per cent) of the transactions came from Outside Central Region (OCR), 29.9 per cent came from the Rest of Central Region (RCR), and 17.5 per cent were from the Core Central Region (CCR).

Overall prices were up 0.8 per cent from August, and 4.4 per cent from September 2023.

Mark Yip, Huttons Asia’s chief executive, noted that despite the lower volume, prices rose at its fastest pace since April 2024. In the first nine months of this year, prices of resale condos have risen by 3.2 per cent.

Month on month, prices in the CCR and OCR rose 0.2 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively. Prices in the RCR remained unchanged.

Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, noted that while resale condo prices have inched up, the median unit price gap between new non-landed private homes and resale homes remains wide.

This comes as new project launches tend to contribute to firmer prices. “Based on URA Realis caveat data, the median (price per square foot) was 45 per cent in September, widening from the past months where the price gap hovered at around 30 to 38 per cent,” she said.

Wong also expects the “sizeable price gap” between non-landed new and resale properties to support the private resale market over the next few months.

Year on year, prices were up 1.6 per cent for CCR, 5.4 per cent for RCR and 5.5 per cent for OCR.

Meanwhile, the percentage of sub-sale transactions to the total secondary sale transactions was 7.6 per cent in September, down 1.2 per cent from August.

In September, the highest transacted price for a resale unit was S$10.3 million for a unit at The Orchard Residences.

The overall median capital gain was S$366,000 in September – an increase of S$5,000 from the previous month. District 10 (Tanglin/Holland/Bukit Timah) posted the highest median capital gain at S$802,000, while District 1 (Boat Quay/Raffles Place/Marina) posted the lowest at S$16,000.

The overall median unlevered return for resale condos was 30.5 per cent in September. District 21 (Clementi Park/Upper Bukit Timah) posted the highest median unlevered return at 54.5 per cent, while District 1 (Boat Quay/Raffles Place/Marina) posted the lowest at 1 per cent.

Looking ahead, OrangeTee’s Sun cautioned that resale activities might decline further as the year-end approaches. This is because buyers and sellers might travel during the holiday season, leading to fewer transactions.

However, she is also positive that sales might rebound after the lull period, especially if the US central bank announces more rate cuts in the coming months.