Condo resale prices rose 3.6% in April

Prices in the OCR grew 4.5% YoY.

Condo resale prices edged up 3.6% YoY in April, with the Outside Central Region (OCR) recording a price index increase of 4.5%, according to data from SRX Property.

The Core Central Region (CCR) recorded a 3.1% price index increase, whilst the Rest of Central Region (RCR) saw a 2.4% growth.

A total of 830 units were resold in April 2019, representing a 3.4% increase from the 803 units recorded in March 2019. Volumes remained well below 2018, however, with 48.4% less units resold than in April 2018.

According to Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie’s head of research and consultancy, the resale market could have experienced some spill-over demand from the primary market.

“Comparing to new launches in the surrounding areas, some buyers may have found completed homes to be attractive given their lower per sq foot pricing and typically bigger living spaces. Displaced en bloc owners may have also bought resale homes in the vicinity of their former homes owing to the sense of familiarity to the areas,” she explained.

Overall median Transaction Over X-Value (TOX) is $10,000 in April 2019, the highest since October 2018. TOX increased by $14,000 as compared to -$4,000 T-O-X for March 2019.

The median TOX for Non-Landed Private Residential measures whether people are overpaying or underpaying the SRX Property X-Value estimated market value. For districts having more than 10 resale transactions in April 2019, District 2 (Anson, Tanjong Pagar) posted the highest median TOX at $50,000, followed by District 12 (Balestier, Toa Payoh, Serangoon) at $49,000, SRX Property noted.

Sun highlighted that there could be a correlation between new launches and the positive TOX.

“Taking the cue from nearby project launches, some sellers could have raised their asking prices. Amongst districts with more than 10 transactions, the highest TOX were seen in some districts like districts 2, 3, and 12 where a number of new projects were launched in the vicinity such as Marina One Residences and Wallich Residence in districts 1 and 2; Margaret Ville, Stirling Residence, Artra and The Crest in district 3; and Park Colonial, Jui Residences, The Addition and The Tre Ver in districts 12 and 13,” she highlighted.

Meanwhile, District 4, comprising Telok Blangah and HarbourFront, posted the lowest median TOX at -$34,000, followed by District 25 (Kranji, Woodgrove) with -$14,000.