Condo resale prices up in March as volume rebounds 17.4%

Prices of resale condominiums rose 0.4 per cent in March, with more units sold as the market rebounded from February’s seasonal lull.

The price increase was slightly higher than the 0.2 per cent rise in February, flash data from real estate portals Singapore Real Estate Exchange and 99.co showed on April 25.

Property analysts attributed the measured price growth to a mismatch in price expectations between buyers and sellers, as well as high interest rates.

Ms Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at real estate firm PropNex, said she observed that many sellers, while open to negotiations, are not keen to lower their asking prices substantially due to the high cost of replacement homes.

On a year-on-year basis, condo resale prices were up by 5 per cent, with those in the suburbs rising the most at 7.1 per cent, data showed.

Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at property firm OrangeTee Group, said that there were more condo launches in the suburbs in recent months, which could have propped up the prices of resale condo units. The new condo units were transacted at a median of above $2,000 per sq ft (psf), she noted.

“More home sellers have raised their asking prices, since prices of new condos in the suburbs are still substantially higher than (those of) resale units,” she said.

Resale volume rebounded in March, rising by 17.4 per cent with an estimated 883 units changing hands, up from 752 units in February.

Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip attributed this to the resumption of project launches in March after the Chinese New Year festive lull, which had a spillover effect on the resale market.

“Some condo owners may have taken the opportunity to buy a new condo and sell their existing home, so they do not need to pay additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) on the second residential property,” he said.

Mr Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at Singapore Realtors Inc, said the relaunch of luxury condo Cuscaden Reserve at “more attractive price points” injected renewed interest into the private resale market.

Discounted offers starting from $2,900 psf were being offered for the Orchard area condo after the project failed to meet its initial sales deadline to clear all unsold units in 2023, The Straits Times reported in March. The ABSD deadline has been extended to 2024.

Thirty-four units at Cuscaden Reserve were sold in March, with 76.5 per cent of these going to Singaporean buyers, Mr Sandrasegeran noted.

“This surge in transactions highlights the strong appeal of well-positioned developments that offer value in the current market environment,” he said.

However, compared with March 2023, resale volume was down 22.8 per cent. The number of transactions was also 12 per cent lower than the five-year average for the month of March.

Transactions by foreign buyers rose to 1.3 per cent of total resale volume in March, up from 0.5 per cent in February, said PropNex’s Ms Wong. There were 11 units sold to foreign buyers.

She added that the demand for resale homes among foreigners has moderated substantially since the ABSD hike in April 2023, when the rate for foreigners buying any residential property was raised from 30 per cent to 60 per cent.

“We expect foreign investment interest to remain subdued in view of the punitive ABSD rate,” she said.

The lion’s share of condo resale transactions in March was recorded in the suburbs, at 48.2 per cent. Homes in the city fringes accounted for 31.6 per cent, while the remaining 20.2 per cent were in the prime district.

The highest transacted price was $8.7 million for a 99-year leasehold 2,971 sq ft unit at Corals at Keppel Bay.

In the suburban areas, a 1,485 sq ft unit at Seaside Residences, a 99-year leasehold condo in Marine Parade, was sold for $3.41 million.