Landed home sales fell 5.8% to 1,780 in 2018

310 homes were sold in District 19.

After three consecutive years of rising transactions, the number of landed home sales slipped 5.8% to 1,780 homes in 2018, Edmund Tie & Company (ETCo) noted in a report. The decrease is relatively smaller compared to the 7.8% decline in transactions for resale condos.

Amongst landed homes, terrace house transactions saw the highest decrease of 19.3% YoY followed by semi-detached (3.9%), and detached (3.5%) homes, the research firm said.

By regions, CCR had the most transactions for detached (40 homes) and semi-detached homes (67 homes), specifically in the areas of Bukit Timah and Tanglin in District 10.

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Meanwhile, the OCR saw the highest number of transactions in terrace homes (225 homes), particularly in Serangoon Gardens and Hougang of District 19. With this, District 19 saw the highest number of total landed homes transacted in the resale market (310 homes) in 2018.

ETCo noted that terrace house accounted for 59% of the total resale transactions for landed homes in 2018, from 57.6% back in 2017. Meanwhile, semi-detached and detached houses comprised 29.2% and 11.7% of the transactions in 2018, respectively.

Almost a third (28.9%) of terrace houses transacted were priced from $2.5-3m, followed by $3.0m to $4.0m (24.8%) and $2-$2.5m (22.2%). In total, the overall price ranges of terrace homes were higher compared to the figures in 2017, according to the research firm.

“In land-scarce Singapore, the supply for landed properties are limited compared to non-landed homes. As such, buyers of landed properties are typically less price-conscious vis-à-vis buyers of non-landed properties as they tend to be owner-occupiers and have a longer-term view,” ETCo explained.

Meanwhile, the median and upper quartile price ranges for semi-detached and detached houses were $3.9-5m, and $8.6-13.4m, respectively.

According to ETCo, demand for resale landed properties is expected to remain relatively stable in 2019, as the buyers’ profile are somewhat different from non-landed properties who are more concerned about cooling measures.