More than 1,500 condo units changed hands in Singapore as the market reached a two-year high despite rising prices. THE STRAITS TIMES/ANN
Singapore’s resale condo market reached a two-year high last month with 1,509 units changing hands, according to flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property on November 10.
It trumped the 1,311 transactions recorded in August, which had the highest monthly resale volume since May 2018.
The sales figure from last month represented a 21.6 per cent jump from the 1,241 units resold in September.
The volume of resold units transacted last month was also 72.9 per cent higher than that in October last year.
According to SRX data, overall prices of resale condos rose by 0.8 per cent from September to last month, with month-on-month price growth across all three regions.
Prices for the core central region (CCR) rose by 0.5 per cent, the rest of central region (RCR) by one per cent and outside central region (OCR) by 0.8 per cent.
Wong Siew Ying, PropNex’s head of research and content, said transactions of resale units last month were driven mainly by sales of mass-market homes, which accounted for 58 per cent of the total volume.
Brisk sales in the private condo resale market seem to be broadly in line with the private new home sales market and the Housing Board resale segment, reflecting a “healthy underlying demand for homes”, she said.
“Sales have been relatively brisk in recent months as buyers enter the market, sensing that the worst may be over and taking confidence from the gradually recovering economy. Bargain hunters would also be on the prowl, searching the resale market for good-value buys amid the economic downturn,” Wong added.
The highest transacted price last month was for a resale unit at Wallich Residence in Tanjong Pagar, which was sold for S$62 million (US$46 million).
The super penthouse in Singapore’s tallest building was previously owned by British billionaire inventor James Dyson, who purchased the unit a year ago for a reported S$73.8 million.
The highest transacted price in the RCR was S$9.1 million for a unit in Reflections at Keppel Bay in HarbourFront while a unit in Costa Del Sol, off Upper East Coast Road, resold for S$2.9 million, the highest price in the OCR.
Looking ahead, ERA Realty research and consultancy head Nicholas Mak said the recovery seen in the resale condo market in the past three months is “just the beginning”.
He noted that Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the recent US presidential election would likely benefit a trade-dependent country such as Singapore and aid in its economic recovery.
This, in turn, would likely have a positive impact on the real estate market.
“Furthermore, the recent advances by pharmaceutical companies in the development of Covid-19 vaccines could also gradually improve investment sentiments, which would spill over to the real estate market,” he added.
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
