Condo resale volumes down 14.5% MoM in August

Over 1,000 units were resold in August from 1,327 units in July.

Property experts’ statistics showed that condo resale volumes declined 14.5% from 1,327 units resold in July to 1,135 units resold in August 2022.

Figures from 99.co and SRX said volumes were 38.6% lower year-on-year and 8.2% lower than the five-year average volumes for August.

By region, 61.7% volumes were from outside the central region (OCR), 21.4% from the rest of central region (RCR), and 16.9% from the core central region (CCR).

Resale prices for the property increased for the 25th straight month by 1.2% month-on-month (MoM) in August 2022.

Overall prices for the condo resale market rose by 10.5% YoY. All regions posted price increases with 7.6% in CCR, 10% in RCR, and 11.5% in OCR.

Rising prices, HDB demand 

Pow Ying Khuan, head of 99 Group’s research, said decrease in sales volume since April was attributed to increased interest rates in bank fixed deposits, rising interest rates, mortgage loan rates, and demand for HDB.

He explained that rising interest rates as well as bank fixed deposits may have led buyers, upgraders, and investors to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

“They may choose to hoard cash for the time being while waiting for home prices (and economies) to stabilise further,” Pow said.

Resale buyers are also going for resale HDB flats, whose interest rate has stabilised at 2.6%.

“This then leads to them choosing to rent or stay with their parents while waiting for build-to-order flat completion,” he said.