Condo and HDB rents, leasing volume rise again in October: SRX data

 

The rental volume may also be slightly lower in 2021, dipping about 5 per cent year-on-year.ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

ents for both Housing Board flats and condominium units continued to rise in October, while rental volume grew for the second month running, according to flash data from real estate portal SRX Property released on Wednesday (Nov 11).

HDB rental volumes rose 13.9 per cent month on month to an estimated 1,734 units in October, from 1,523 units the month before.

Rental volumes for condominiums also climbed, by 6.3 per cent month on month. An estimated 4,409 units were leased in October, compared with 4,148 units in September.

Ms Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie said the increase in rental volume could partly be attributed to the new restrictions on developers re-issuing options to purchase (OTPs) announced on Sept 28.

Advertisement

Under the terms of a standard OTP, buyers of new private homes have three weeks to book their right to purchase a property from a developer in return for a cash downpayment, which is up to 5 per cent of the price of the unit. If the buyer does not exercise the right to buy, he may forfeit 25 per cent of the booking fee.

But some developers had been reissuing OTPs to buyers, giving them more time to line up the funds needed to make the purchase and avoid paying the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD).

"As most buyers have not been granted an extension of their OTPs, some have sold their homes to avoid paying the ABSD when they purchased a new condominium. They have subsequently rented a unit while they wait for the completion of their new home," Ms Sun said.

Meanwhile, HDB rents inched up 0.7 per cent from September, rising for a fourth straight month. They are up 0.8 per cent year on year but still down 13.7 per cent from their peak in August 2013.

Condo rents edged up 0.3 per cent from September, also climbing for the fourth consecutive month. They are up by the same rate year on year but still 16.8 per cent lower than their the peak in January 2013.

Year on year, rental volumes for HDB flats are still down by 12.1 per cent, and 8.9 per cent lower than the five-year average volume for the month.

As for condos, the total number of leases is 4.1 per cent lower than October 2019, but 5.8 per cent higher than the five-year average volume for the month.

Ms Sun noted that there is still considerable uncertainty in the economy and the employment outlook remains weak for many sectors.

"The global economic weakness may necessitate more job cuts in the coming months. A further reduction in foreign employment will continue to impact the leasing market adversely," she said.

"Therefore, the rental volume may be slightly lower in 2021, dipping about 5 per cent year-on-year. Rents may dip around 2 to 4 per cent next year."

Source: The Straits Times

Source: SRX (11 Nov 2020)

Advertisement

Sales of resale condos hit 2-year high in October as prices rise: SRX data

 

October's sales figure represented a 21.6 per cent jump from the 1,241 units resold in September.ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

The resale condo market reached a two-year high in October with 1,509 units changing hands the same month, according to flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property on Tuesday (Nov 10).

It trumped the 1,311 transactions recorded in August, which was the highest monthly resale volume since May 2018.

October's sales figure represented a 21.6 per cent jump from the 1,241 non-landed private units resold in September.

The volume of resold units transacted last month was also 72.9 per cent higher than in October last year.

Advertisement

According to SRX data, overall prices of resale condo rose by 0.8 per cent from September to October, with month-on-month price growth across all three regions.

The core central region (CCR) rose by 0.5 per cent, rest of central region (RCR) by 1 per cent and outside central region (OCR) by 0.8 per cent.

Ms Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content, said that transactions of resale units last month were driven mainly by sales of mass market homes, which accounted for 58 per cent of the total volume.

Brisk sales in the private condo resale market seems to be broadly in line with the private new home sales market and the Housing Board resale segment, reflecting a "healthy underlying demand for homes", she noted.

"Sales have been relatively brisk in recent months as buyers enter the market, sensing that the worst may be over and taking confidence from the gradually recovering economy.

"Bargain hunters would also be on the prowl, searching the resale market for good value buys amid the economic downturn," she added.

The highest transacted price in October was for a resale unit at Wallich Residence in Tanjong Pagar, which was sold for $62 million.

The highest transacted price in the RCR was $9.1 million for a unit in Reflections at Keppel Bay in Harbourfront while a unit in Costa Del Sol, off Upper East Coast Road, resold for $2.9 million, the highest price in OCR.

Looking ahead, ERA Realty research and consultancy head Nicholas Mak said the recovery seen in the resale condo market in the past three months is "just the beginning".

Source: The Straits Times

Source: SRX (10 Nov 2020)

Advertisement

HDB resale prices rise for 4th month in October; 13 million-dollar flats sold: SRX

 

October was the fifth consecutive month when sales volume stayed above 2,400 units, after rebounding from weak sales during the circuit breaker period.ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

While Housing Board (HDB) resale volume dipped in October compared to the previous month, prices continued to rise, indicating that demand remained relatively robust amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, 13 HDB resale flats were sold for more than $1 million, flash estimates from real estate portal SRX showed on Thursday (Nov 5). It is the highest-ever number of such transactions for a single month.

The previous high was in June 2018 when 11 million-dollar flats changed hands.

A total of 59 HDB resale flats have been sold for more than $1 million in the first 10 months of this year.

Ms Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content, noted that this year's figure looks to be on track to surpass the 64 such million-dollar deals recorded last year.

National Development Minister Desmond Lee noted in Parliament last month that HDB resale flats that sell for at least $1 million made up just 0.3 per cent of total resale transactions this year.

Advertisement

For October, there were a total of 2,436 HDB resale transactions, down by 2.1 per cent from September, according to the SRX data.

Of the HDB resale flats sold last month, 41.5 per cent were four-room flats, 26.4 per cent were five-room flats, 20.8 per cent were three-room flats and 9.6 per cent were executive flats. The rest of the transactions involved multi-generation and two-room flats.

October was the fifth consecutive month when sales volume stayed above 2,400 units, after rebounding from weak sales during the two-month-long circuit breaker period in April and May.

Overall prices for HDB resale flats increased by 1.2 per cent in October compared to September. It is the fourth consecutive month to see a price increase.HDB data shows that HDB resale price rose 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of this year.

Orange Tee & Tie head of research and consultancy Christine Sun said large resale flats, especially those that are well-located, have been in demand over the past few months.

"This is not surprising as some families prefer to buy resale flats during a crisis since people tend to be more prudent. For the same price, they can purchase a much bigger flat as compared to a private home," she said.

She noted that singles who are moving out from their family homes to live on their own may have also contributed to the demand, as the work-from-home arrangement looks set to continue into Phase 3 for some companies.

PropNex's Ms Wong said that, based on ground feedback from the firm's agents, the asking prices of HDB resale flats have risen in recent months, owing to strong demand and increased sales volume.

"In many cases, the agreed selling price is higher than the market valuation of the unit and the buyers have had to pay the difference in cash," she said.

In October, a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) five-room flat at Natura Loft in Bishan recorded the highest transacted price at $1,208,000.

An executive maisonette flat in Jurong East was sold for $820,000 in what was the highest resale price for non-mature estates.

Data from SRX also showed that the overall median transaction over X-value (TOX) was a positive $3,000 in October, an increase of $1,000 compared with September.

Median TOX measures whether people are overpaying (in the case of positive TOX) or underpaying (when there is negative TOX) relative to the SRX's computer-generated estimated market value for flats.

ERA Realty head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak said that prior to Covid-19, the Singapore real estate market would enter a lull period in the last quarter of the year as people go on vacations.

However, with travel restrictions in place in Singapore and many travel destinations, this year may be the exception.

Mr Mak estimates that the HDB resale volume for 2020 could vary between 23,500 and 24,800 flats, surpassing the 23,714 flats transacted last year.

"With a more active resale market, the HDB resale price index could also edge upwards to end the year with a 2.5 to 3.5 per cent year-on-year increase," he said.

Source: The Straits Times

Source: SRX (05 Nov 2020)

Advertisement

Singapore private home prices rise by faster 0.8% in Q3, rents dip 0.5%: URA - SRX

 

Private home prices have edged up 0.1 per cent to date in 2020.ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Private home prices in Singapore rose 0.8 per cent in the third quarter from the previous three months, according to final data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday (Oct 23).

The 0.8 per cent gain in the third quarter of 2020 was unchanged from URA's flash estimate released on Oct 1.

It comes after a 0.3 per cent increase in the second quarter of this year and a 1 per cent drop in the first quarter, the first quarterly decline in a year.

This means private home prices have edged up 0.1 per cent to date this year.

Advertisement

The price increase was driven by landed homes and a burst of buying in the city fringes and suburbs after the two-month circuit breaker ended on June 1, said Ms Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie's head of research & consultancy.

“Many long-term investors and wealthy buyers are on the prowl for properties as many are repositioning their wealth from riskier assets,” Ms Sun said.

According to URA's final data, the total number of residential transactions excluding ECs spiked by 164.5 per cent from 2,664 units in the second quarter to 7,047 units in Q3, she noted.

Developers sold 3,517 units (excluding executive condominums or ECs), up 105 per cent from the 1,713 units taken up in the second quarter. They launched 3,791 units (excluding ECs), compared with 1,852 units in the previous quarter.

Ms Sun noted that: “Investor exuberance for real estate properties seemed to have spilt over from the primary market to the secondary market."

The resale market registered a steeper quarter-on-quarter increase of 271.6 per cent from 933 units to 3,467 units in Q3. Resale homes also accounted for a bigger proportion of total sales at 49.2 per cent, when compared to 35.0 per cent in the preceding quarter, Ms Sun said.

For the third quarter, prices of non-landed properties rose 0.1 per cent from the previous three months, compared with the 0.4 per cent increase in the previous quarter.

Giving a breakdown by region, the URA said that prices of non-landed properties in the prime or core central region fell 3.8 per cent in Q3, compared with the 2.7 per cent drop in the previous quarter. Prices of non-landed properties in the city fringe or rest of central region
jumped 2.5 per cent, compared with the 1.7 per cent fall in the previous quarter.

Prices in the suburbs or outside central region jumped 1.7 per cent, compared with the 0.1 per cent gain in the previous quarter.

Advertisement

The URA also said that prices of landed properties jumped 3.7 per cent in the third quarter this year, after remaining unchanged in the second quarter.

Unlike prices, rents of private residential properties continued to weaken in the third quarter. Rents dipped 0.5 per cent from the previous three months, easing from a drop of 1.2 per cent in the second quarter.

Just like in the second quarter, developers did not launch any EC units for sale in the third quarter, and sold 164 EC units in the quarter. In comparison, they sold 71 EC units in the previous quarter.

As at the end of Q3, there was a total supply of 50,369 uncompleted private residential units (excluding ECs) in the pipeline with planning approvals, compared with 49,090 units in the previous quarter.

Of this number, 26,483 units or more than half remained unsold as at the end of Q3, compared with the 27,977 units in the previous quarter.

After adding the supply of 4,104 EC units in the pipeline, there were 54,473 units in the pipeline with planning approvals. Of the EC units in the pipeline, 2,244 remain unsold.

In total, 28,727 units with planning approvals (including ECs) remain unsold, down from 29,876 units in the previous quarter.

Source: The Straits Times

Source: SRX (23 Oct 2020)

Advertisement