SINGAPORE - Prices of resale condominium units climbed for the fifth consecutive quarter between April and June, albeit at a slower pace than before as fewer units changed hands.
Prices inched up by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter, compared with 2.9 per cent in the first three months of 2023, based on a report by real estate firm OrangeTee & Tie released on Tuesday.
On a year-on-year basis, prices went up by 7.8 per cent, the report said, citing data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Realis property statistics portal.
In the second quarter of 2023, resale volumes dipped 1.5 per cent, with 2,376 units changing hands. By comparison, 2,413 units were sold in the first quarter.
OrangeTee & Tie expects the resale market to record more sales activity in the second half of 2023 as more condominiums are completed.
“The plethora of newly completed units will push housing supply to a seven-year high, which may continue to stabilise property prices,” the report noted.
Between April and June, resale prices on the city fringes rose 2.7 per cent compared with the first quarter, and those in the suburbs climbed 2.8 per cent. Prices in core central Singapore went down by 0.8 per cent.
The largest drop in resale volumes (17.7 per cent) was recorded in core central Singapore, where 422 units changed hands, compared with 513 in the first quarter.
In the suburbs, resale volumes dipped 0.7 per cent, but transactions on the city fringes gathered pace, rising 8.9 per cent.
Condos in the suburbs formed 50.4 per cent of total resale condo transactions in the second quarter of 2023.
Homes on the city fringes made up 31.8 per cent of transactions, while those in core central Singapore accounted for the remaining 17.8 per cent.
OrangeTee & Tie said in its report that the best-selling resale condo was The Bencoolen in Rochor, with 31 units changing hands at an average price of $1,622 per sq ft (psf) in the second quarter.
This was followed by High Park Residences in Sengkang, with 23 units transacting at an average of $1,491 psf, and Petit Jervois in Tanglin, with 22 units changing hands at an average of $2,597 psf.
Nearly one-third, or 30.1 per cent, of resale condos sold in the second quarter were priced between $1 million and below $1.5 million. Condos priced between $1.5 million and under $2 million accounted for 23.9 per cent of transactions.
This suggests the present “sweet spot” for resale condos is between $1 million and $2 million, the report said.
Mr Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at property agency Huttons Asia, said the decline in fixed-rate loans for completed properties gave the resale market a boost in the second quarter. He expects prices to rise about 8 per cent for the whole of 2023 amid the completion of more homes.
“The high-interest-rate environment might put a cap on resale transaction volume to an estimated 11,000 units in 2023,” he said. An estimated 11,949 units were sold in 2022.
Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at property portal Mogul.sg, expects the resale condo market to stay resilient for the rest of the year as rents remain high.
“Additionally, as Housing Board resale prices are rising faster than private property prices, flat owners are likely to take advantage of the current market to upgrade to a condo,” he said.
