SINGAPORE - Resale prices of condominiums and apartments in Singapore dipped again in July for the second consecutive month, while volume of sales surged by almost one-third, according to monthly figures from real estate portal SRX Property released on Wednesday (Aug 14).
Overall condo resale prices were down 0.5 per cent in July from the previous month. June had seen a 0.4 per cent decline from the peak in May, breaking an upward trend that had lasted four months.
Prices in the city fringes, or rest of central region (RCR), posted the biggest drop of 1.1 per cent in July, while prices for the suburbs or outside central region (OCR) retreated 0.3 per cent.
Prices in the core central region (CCR) inched down by 0.1 per cent month on month.
The softer prices in all three market segments of CCR, RCR and OCR could be due to the increase in supply of new homes, said OrangeTee & Tie's head of research and consultancy, Christine Sun.
"Many new projects have been launched in recent months, and the rising competition for potential buyers probably caused some sellers to lower their asking prices for their resale homes," Ms Sun said on Wednesday.
Volume of sales climbed 32.2 per cent in July, with 882 units resold compared to 667 units transacted in June.
Year on year, however, volumes were 19.8 per cent lower, as July 2018 saw "unusually high activity" ahead of the introduction of cooling measures, SRX said.
Nonetheless, volumes in July this year were 11.1 per cent higher than the five-year average volume for the month of July.
"Last month's increase in resale volume could be seasonal as similar trends were observed in 2016 and 2017, where sales were higher in July compared to June," OrangeTee's Ms Sun said.
The pickup in sales in July could largely be attributed to more buyers returning to the market after the June holidays in Singapore, she added.
The most expensive condo unit in Singapore resold last month was at Boulevard Vue on Cuscaden Walk, where a high-floor unit was transacted at $17.5 million. The freehold condo is located in District 10 in the CCR.
In the city fringes or RCR, the highest transacted price in July was $4.2 million for a unit at Dakota Residences, a 99-year leasehold condo on Dakota Crescent in District 14.
Meanwhile, the highest transacted price in the suburbs or OCR was $3.3 million, for a unit at Bayshore Park, a 99-year leasehold property along the East Coast Parkway.
SRX's overall median transaction over X-value (TOX) was negative $10,000 in July, implying that buyers were underpaying for condos by that amount. In June, TOX was positive $10,000.
TOX measures how much a buyer is overpaying (positive value) or underpaying (negative value) for a property based on SRX's computer-generated market value. The data only includes districts with more than 10 resale transactions.
The highest median TOX was recorded in District 7's Beach Road, Bugis and Rochor, with a positive $26,000 value.
This was followed by District 13's MacPherson and Potong Pasir with positive $22,000 TOX.
The lowest median TOX was seen in District 5's Buona Vista, West Coast and Clementi at a negative $35,000, followed by District 22's Boon Lay, Jurong and Tuas with negative $33,000.
