Singapore private condo resale volume drops 23.8% to 1,118 units in January

But prices inched up 0.4% in the same month.

An estimated 1,118 units were transacted in Singapore’s private condo resale market in January 2022, representing a 23.8% month-on-month and 23.1% year-on-year decline. According to SRX data, despite the decline in transaction volume, condo resale prices held up in January 2022, inching up by 0.4% from December and rising by 9.2% on a year-on-year basis.   

PropNex says the slower sales could be a result of the new cooling measures introduced from 16 December 2021, which possibly led to some buyers temporarily putting off their decision to purchase a residential property, taking a watch-and-wait approach to assess the impact of the new measures on the resale market.

Here’s more from PropNex:

By submarkets, the Outside Central Region (OCR) led resale volumes in January 2022 owing to demand from owner occupiers and HDB upgraders. We expect the latter to continue to help boost condo resale demand this year. With HDB resale prices at an all-time high, it may encourage more flat owners to sell and upgrade to private housing. In addition, the large number of flats due to reach the 5-year minimum occupation period (MOP) this year – estimated at over 31,000 units – could also see some families taking the opportunity to swap their flat for a private condo.

HDB upgraders will be a key demand driver for the private resale housing market, particularly for homes priced under $1.5 million. Based on caveats lodged, the median transacted price of non-landed resale private homes (ex. EC) in the OCR was $1.15 million in January 2022, while that of the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Core Central Region (CCR) were $1.55 million and $2.50 million respectively.

Resale volumes should start to pick up after the Lunar New Year festivities and as buyers come to terms with the new property curbs. Meanwhile, the declining stock of unsold new private homes - especially in the OCR - and the limited number of new launches could also see home buyers dipping into the resale market for units.