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Landed property transaction volume and average price psf in 2001 (Source: EdgeProp Singapore)

Twenty years ago, the total transaction volume of landed property was 1,836 and the average price was $483 psf.
Both transaction volume and average prices then started to climb, reaching the all-time high of 5,525 deals in 2007 at the height of the property boom, with average prices at $645 psf. “A significant portion of the transactions was for new houses,” says Teo.


Landed property transactions at the peak of the property boom in 2007 (Source: EdgeProp Singapore)

The next year, 2008, marked the onset of the global financial crisis. Transaction volume plummeted 61% to 2,145 units. However, average price inched up slightly to $666 psf, according to EdgeProp Singapore data. “What it shows is that most landed property owners have strong holding power, and reacted by pulling their property off the market,” says Teo.


Landed property transactions plunged 61% y-o-y during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 (Source: EdgeProp Singapore)

Confidence returned, and hit a new peak in 2010, with 4,331 transactions and average price at $868 psf. In 2013, three property cooling measures were introduced: hikes in both additional buyer’s and seller’s stamp duties as well as the imposition of the total debt servicing ratio loan framework. That led to a 68% plunge in transaction volume to 1,382 units that same year. However, average price plateaued at $1,234 psf.


Landed property transactions at the last peak in 2010 (Source: EdgeProp Singapore)


The plunge in transaction volume in 2013 after a series of property cooling measures were introduced; yet landed property prices did not fall (Source: EdgeProp Singapore)


Transactions in the first nine months of 2021YTD, where transaction volume and prices have soared in the midst of the pandemic (Source: EdgeProp Singapore)

New highs

Today, average prices are at $1,379 psf, and even though the Covid pandemic has dented sentiment in the broad economy, the residential market, and notably landed property, has been sizzling. “My prediction is that transaction volume will remain high, but there’s currently a lack of stock,” Teo observes. The dearth of housing stock for sale, coupled with strong demand, could drive prices to new heights, he notes.

This is already seen in the GCB market, where the highest-price transaction this year, in absolute terms, was for a GCB at Nassim Road that was sold for $128.8 million — also a record at $4,005 psf — in March this year. A new record in terms of psf price was achieved just two months later when a GCB at Cluny Hill changed hands for $63.7 million or $4,291 psf. The house was still under construction then. The seller, a property developer, has committed to completing the project as part of the sale.