Singapore's condo resale volume nearly doubles in July: SRX

Jump in resale volumes attributed to pent-up demand built-up during circuit breaker period, say analysts

Wed, Aug 12, 2020

Vivienne Tay

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/rea...es-in-july-srx

PENT-UP demand and a surge in HDB upgraders entering the market nearly doubled the resale volume of non-landed private homes in Singapore in July; 978 units were resold, up from the 496 units resold in June 2020.

Volumes were 10 per cent higher from a year ago and 9.3 per cent higher than the five-year average volumes for the month of July, going by flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property on Tuesday.

By region, 53.6 per cent of the volumes came from sales in the outside of central region (OCR), 27.8 per cent came from the rest of central region (RCR) or city fringes, while 18.6 per cent of sales was from the core central region (CCR).

Research heads from PropNex, OrangeTee and ERA Realty all cited pent-up demand built-up during the eight-week "circuit breaker" period for the jump in resale volumes.

Another factor was the increase in HDB upgraders entering the resale market recently, with as many flats having obtained their five-year minimum occupation period (MOP) recently and have thus become eligible for resale.

Quoting Urban Redevelopment Authority Realis data, Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie, said 34.8 per cent of non-landed resale homes were bought by purchasers with HDB addresses in July, up from 30.9 per cent in June 2020.

Nicholas Mak, ERA Realty's head of research and consultancy, said that in 2019 and 2020, an average of about 26,600 additional HDB flats would be newly eligible to be sold on the resale market in each of those two years.

"This figure is triple the annual average of 8,800 HDB flats that had completed the five-year MOP in the 10-year period from 2008 to 2018," he said.

According to SRX, overall resale prices rose 0.1 per cent month on month, with prices in the CCR dropping 1.7 per cent, the RCR falling 1.4 per cent and the OCR rising 1.6 per cent in July. Year on year, overall prices dipped 0.1 per cent. Prices in the CCR fell 2.6 per cent, the RCR lost 1.2 per cent while OCR prices increased 1.5 per cent.

Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at Propnex Realty, said: "We believe the price trends continue to reflect the resilience of the OCR or mass-market segment, where prices tend to be more stable as they are supported by healthy demand from a larger pool of upgraders and owner-occupiers."

Some buyers may also find the current pricing level "comfortable" to enter the market, as prices could rise further in the future, Ms Sun said.

The current market slowdown may also be seen as an opportunity to negotiate a better deal with sellers, she said.

Skyline @ Orchard Boulevard again fetched the highest transacted price in the month, with a unit resold for S$14.99 million. In the RCR, the highest transacted price was S$5.85 million for a unit at Reflections at Keppel Bay. As for the OCR, the highest transacted price was for a unit at Ocean Park resold for S$2.8 million.

In July, SRX's overall transaction over X-value (TOX) came in at negative S$10,000, unchanged from June and May 2020.

District 18 (Pasir Ris, Tampines) posted the highest medium TOX at positive S$9,500, while District 4 (Sentosa, Harbourfront) posted the lowest median TOX at negative S$90,000.

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 includes only districts with more than 10 resale transactions.