SINGAPORE – The resale condominium volume recovered marginally in October 2023, with prices increasing slightly for the third consecutive month.

From September to October 2023, prices moved up by 0.4%, less than the 0.8% in September and 0.9% in August, according to flash data given by real estate portals 99.co and SRX on 28 November 2023.

The resale condominium volume was up 14.7% between September and October 2023.

The report by the property portals revealed that prices inched up by 1.9% in the rest of central region (RCR) and 2.5% in the outside central region (OCR), but fell 1.5% in the core central region (CCR).

Overall prices jumped by 7.5% compared with October 2022.

Mr Luqman Hakim, chief data and analytics officer at 99.co, mentioned that the sustained robust growth in OCR and RCR segments seemed to reflect strong demand for resale condos in these regions in spite of general pessimistic market conditions and high rates.

He predicts prices to hit a ceiling soon as market supply rises with vacancy rates reaching their highest in 5 years.

Ms Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content, mentioned that the increase in additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) possibly continued to weigh on the CCR sector among investors and foreign purchasers.

Mr Mark Yip, Huttons Asia chief executive, said: “Purchasers of resale condos are resisting higher prices and altering their budget as the mortgage interest rates stays high. Year to date, resale condo prices have skyrocketed by 6.3%.”

According to the flash report, an estimated 838 resale units changed hands in October 2023, up from 731 in September 2023. Around 51.8% of the units were from OCR, 29.4% from RCR, and 18.8% from CCR.

“We expect Singaporean and Singapore permanent resident purchasers to continue to dominate… In October 2023, (they) accounted for 98.9% of non-landed private residential resale transactions,” noted Ms Wong. This will be the key buyers for Lentoria.

Analysts predict moderate growth in resale residential prices for the following months, given the restrictive ABSD rates for foreigners and investors, sky high interest rates and macroeconomic uncertainties.

“In spite of that, owners of resale condominiums should still enjoy some price upside, backed by the rising price gap between resale condos and new-launch projects, as well as buoyant owner-occupier demand by local home buyers,” Ms Wong noted.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/condo-resale-volume-recovers-slightly-price-growth-slows-in-october