Singapore luxury non-landed home sales down 9% to S$1.9b in H2 2021

The Les Maisons Nassim development led sales activity during the period.

Sales of luxury non-landed homes in Singapore saw a half-yearly decline of 9% to 225 units in the second half of 2021, with transaction values totalling S$1.9 billion. According to Knight Frank, District 10 remained the top location of choice, recording 103 sales within this prime region.

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The transaction of units particularly within the Les Maisons Nassim development led sales performance in the second half of the year, with a penthouse unit and a first floor unit sold for S$75.0 million and S$35.0 million respectively.

While the encouraging pace of sales in 2021 pointed towards hopeful signs of a recovery, the announcement of the latest cooling measures, imposing a 10% Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty (ABSD) hike on foreign buyers purchasing any residential properties, has affected the nascent recovery of the housing market in the Core Central Region (CCR). Some foreigners might now be deterred by the increase in ABSD. 

However, others might still be interested in purchasing luxury homes in the CCR as prices did not increase as much as the other market segments (about 3.7% increase in 2021, compared to the 16.9% gain in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and the 8.4% growth in the Outside Central Region (OCR) based on the flash estimates of 3 January 2022).

Market outlook

Being one of Asia’s key trading hubs, characterised by a predominantly-open investment regulatory framework, luxury homes in Singapore are nonetheless expected to continue to receive keen interest from foreign investors despite increased ABSD rates. The establishment of more Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) and extension of current ones should draw some of the globally mobile wealthy who are still prepared to pay the 30% ABSD for entry into Singapore’s stable prime residential market. 

As such, the sales performance of luxury homes in the year ahead is expected to improve with the opening of borders and Singapore’s reputation as a key destination for wealth preservation.