Buyers unfazed by Hungry Ghost month as condo resale volumes, prices rise

Buyers unfazed by Hungry Ghost month as condo resale volumes, prices rise

Sep 14, 2021

SINGAPORE resale condominium prices and volumes continued to rise in August despite it being the Hungry Ghost month, when sales typically slow down.

Flash figures from SRX Property on Tuesday noted a 0.5 per cent rise in overall resale prices month on month, and an increase of 7.9 per cent year on year.

By region, the suburban or outside of central region (OCR) saw the highest rise at 0.9 per cent. This was followed by the core central region (CCR), which increased 0.3 per cent and the rest of central region (RCR), which was up 0.2 per cent.

Year on year, the CCR, OCR and RCR climbed 8.2 per cent, 7.9 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively.

Estimated resale volumes, meanwhile, stood at 1,860 resold units, 4.9 per cent higher than the 1,773 units resold in July 2021. Volumes were 40.5 per cent higher year on year and 79.5 per cent higher than the five-year average volumes for the month of August.

The bulk of transactions (60.4 per cent) came from the OCR, followed by 23 per cent in the RCR and 16.5 per cent in the CCR.

Sales remained buoyant in August as demand outstripped supply in the suburban region, according to OrangeTee & Tie's senior vice-president of research and analytics Christine Sun.

Demand was also well-supported by the HDB resale market, which registered the highest volume to date, said Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip.

Space, it appears, is now a necessity and no longer a luxury, Huttons and OrangeTee observed. Ms Sun said demand for large condominiums has been growing since many people are working from home and require more space for home offices.

"Some have purchased the larger units in the resale market as they are more affordable than new condominium units," Ms Sun said.

ERA Realty head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak also noted that some buyers may choose to buy resale condominiums rather than face the uncertainties of waiting for HDB Build-To-Order flats.

SRX said a resale unit at Eden Residences Capitol fetched the highest transacted price at S$21.4 million.

In the RCR, the most expensive resale unit was one at Reflections at Keppel Bay resold for S$8.2 million, while the highest transacted price in the OCR was for a unit at A Treasure Trove, resold for S$3.7 million.

The overall median capital gain stood at S$193,000 in August, up S$12,830 from July.

District 20 (Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Thomson) posted the highest median capital gain at S$375,912, while District 2 (Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar) posted the lowest median capital gain at S$55,000.

SRX calculates the capital gain or loss of a condo resale unit by comparing the current transacted price with the same unit's previous transacted price. Capital gain data includes only districts with more than 10 matching transactions.

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