Homebuyers purchase 1,860 condo units during hungry ghost month

There was a 4.9% increase in condo resale volumes in August.

An estimated total of 1,860 condos was resold in August, a 4.9% increase from the 1,773 sold the month previous, defying the traditional hush of the hungry ghost month.

“The uptrend defied the hungry ghost month when sales activities are typically slower and a tightening of movement measures which put a cap of two distinct visitors per household per day until 10 August 2021 under Phase 2 (Heightened Alert),” said OrangeTee Senior Vice President of Research and Analytics Christine Sun.

According to the latest SRX data, this is 40.5% higher than August last year, and 79.5% higher than the five-year average volume for the month of August.

Most of the condo resales were from the Outside Central Region (OCR), at 60.4%, followed by the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Core Central Region (CCR) at 23.0% and 16.5%, respectively.

“Sales remained buoyed because of a few factors. Demand is outstripping supply in the suburban region, therefore many upgraders especially those who have sold their flats recently turned to the secondary market to find replacement homes. Further, demand for large condominiums has been growing since many people are working from home. They need more space to set up home offices in the era of hybrid work. Therefore, some have purchased the larger units in the resale market as these are more affordable than new homes,” Sun said.

Resale prices inched up by a mere 0.5% month-on-month and hiked 7.9% year-on-year.

The most expensive unit sold for $21.4 at Eden Residences Capitol at the CCR. This is more than double the $8.2m Reflections at Keppel Bay resale in the RCR, and almost seven times the $3.7m transaction from the sale of A Treasure Trove in OCR.

The median capital gain for August was $193,000.

OrangeTee estimates that 17,000 to 18,000 resale homes will be sold in 2021.