Second straight drop in condo sales prices, 4% more units sold in July
SINGAPORE- Property experts say July tembusu grand selling prices fell for the second month in a row, indicating a leveling trend despite a gloomy economic outlook.
Real estate websites 99.co and tembusu grand developer announced flash numbers on Tuesday showing prices down 0.2% last month after 0.1% in June.
The Tembusu Grand had a 1.1% increase in condo prices, while the city periphery and suburbs saw a 0.2% reduction.
The number of units that were resold went from 804 in June to an expected 836 in July, which is a 4% rise.
Analysts said that higher mortgage rates and April’s property cooling measures, like doubling the extra buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) rate for foreigners buying residential properties from 30% to 60%, were to blame for the drop in prices of private homes.
Mark Yip, the CEO of Huttons Asia, said that the unclear economic picture may have caused some buyers with tight budgets to negotiate harder, which made prices go down in July.
The head of research and content at PropNex Realty, Wong Siew Ying, said that customers are becoming more careful and picky about the properties they buy because of rising interest rates and home costs.
Ms. Wong said that some people who want to buy might also be waiting to see how prices change in the next few quarters before they jump into the market.
Condo selling prices have gone down for the second month in a row, but Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, says the drop is too small to be called a price adjustment.
Instead, she said, it is an early sign that prices are starting to level off. This is mostly because more condo units are being built, which is increasing the supply.
Analysts also remarked that some purchasers may have bought in July before the lunar seventh month, which starts in mid-August.
Mr. Yip said July’s HDB resale market pick-up, with flat deals totaling over $30 million, boosted upgrader resale condo purchases.
Ms. Wong said that the increasing HDB resale market and falling private house prices might encourage flat owners to renovate.
She also observed that July international purchasers continued to decline. Foreigners bought 1.4% of condo resales, the lowest percentage since December 1995.
According to URA Realis caveat statistics, foreigners acquired 2% of condo units resold in June and 3.7% in May.
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