Condo resale prices rise in November as volumes fall

SINGAPORE - Prices for condominium resale transactions rebounded in November against a seasonal drop in volumes, according to the latest flash report by SRX and 99.co. 

Month on month, overall prices increased by 1.2 per cent even as resale volumes fell 5.8 per cent to an estimated 1,023 units. 

Mr Luqman Hakim, chief data and analytics officer at 99.co, said this demonstrated a “positive shift” in the resale market given October’s price decline. He attributed the recovery to an improving global economic outlook. 

“As economic conditions continue to strengthen, resale prices are anticipated to maintain an upward trajectory into the coming year,” he said. 

Likewise, PropNex’s head of research Wong Siew Ying believes condo resale prices “may continue to creep up gradually” in 2025 due to stable demand and potentially tighter resale stock availability amid expectations of lower supply completions. 

“In 2025, we expect the private residential resale market to remain resilient, backed by demand drivers such as the preference for larger homes, the need for move-in ready units, the substantial price gap relative to new launches, as well as any further easing in interest rates,” she said. 

Prices grew 4.2 per cent year on year, driven by price increases across all regions – specifically 4.3 per cent in the rest of central region (RCR), 3.6 per cent in the outside central region (OCR) and 1.6 per cent in the core central region (CCR). 

Leedon Residence booked the highest transacted price for a resale unit for the month at $13 million. Within the RCR, the highest transacted price was $9.2 million for a resale unit at Silversea, while the sale of a unit at The Trilinq registered the OCR’s highest resale price of $4.58 million. 

Resale condos registered an overall median capital gain of $380,000 for November, representing a $19,000 increase from the previous month on the back of gains from District 22 (Boon Lay/Jurong/Tuas) at $660,000. District 1 (Boat Quay/Raffles Place/Marina) posted the lowest median capital gain of $146,000.

The percentage of sub-sale transactions – which refer to secondary sale transactions before the completion of a project – to total secondary sale transactions in November was 6.6 per cent, down from 8.8 per cent the month before.  

A major proportion of volumes, or 50.9 per cent, came from the OCR, with 31.6 per cent from the RCR and the remaining 17.5 per cent from the CCR. 

Though the latest month’s volumes were down from the 1,086 units resold in October, they were 19.8 per cent up from the year-ago period and 8.4 per cent higher than the five-year average volume for November. 

“Considering the high number of units introduced in the primary market, the drop in resale volume was not severe. This indicates that demand in the secondary market remains relatively robust,” observed OrangeTee Group’s chief researcher and strategist Christine Sun. 

Huttons Asia’s chief executive Mark Yip surmised that the month-on-month decline in condo resale volumes came as November’s slew of non-landed residential launches “captured the hearts and purses of almost 2,500 buyers, siphoning interest away from the resale market”.

Larger loans at lower interest rates could have also provided buyers with more access to new private non-landed homes, he added. 

Mr Yip expects condo resale volumes for 2024 to be similar to the previous year’s at around 12,500, with prices rising by 3 per cent to 4 per cent. 

Meanwhile, Ms Sun foresees condo resale prices growing at a faster rate of 4 per cent to 7 per cent in 2025 as she said demand is likely to exceed supply. 

“Although interest rate cuts may not be as frequent or substantial as anticipated, rates are still expected to decline next year. As credit conditions improve, demand for resale homes is anticipated to strengthen,” she added. 

THE BUSINESS TIMES