Prime condo sales, prices drop in H2 2023 following ABSD hike
Sales and prices for Singapore’s high-end residential properties took a hit in the second quarter of 2023 as a result of a sharply raised Additional Buyers Stamp Duty.
In H2 2020, 64 prime residential non-landed deals totaled S$503.9 Million. The average price per square foot was S$2,302. This is less that half the previous half-year when 134 transactions totalled S$1.2B at an average S$2,625psf.
The total number of prime condo deals valued at S$1.7billion in 2023 was 198, down 33.4% on the S$2.5billion reported the previous.
The number of transactions in 2023 is also far lower than those recorded in the years 2022 and 2021, which totaled 298 deals.
Pinetree Hill at pine grove
Units of at least 2,500 sq ft in size are located in highly sought-after areas such as Districts 1 and 2 (the central Business District and Sentosa), Districts 9 and 10 (Tanglin/Orchard Road), Districts 11 and 12 (Bukit Timah, Holland Road and Newton/Novena).
Keong attributes the decline in sales to higher ABSD rate – which doubles to 60 percent for foreign homebuyers.
ABSD cooled the market by cooling sales of non-landed luxury homes.
In H2, prime condo prices dropped 6.6 per cent, from S$2,464psf one year before. This is because sellers reduced their expectations regarding price premiums.
SRI released a market report on Jan. 3 that indicated there were atleast 11 transactions of new ultra luxury condos last. This is units that cost S$10,000,000.00 or more. In 2022, 19 of these sales will take place.
In May, the top-selling unit was a freehold 8,633 sq. ft. apartment at Les Maisons Nassim. This unit sold at S$45.9 million ($5,213.30 per square foot)
At least 36 resale deals in 2023 exceeded the S$10M threshold. That’s down from the 58 sales in 2022. The highest sale in Bukittimah was for a 10,710 sf unit at the Goodwood Residence freehold at S$32m or S$2,988psf.
Pinetree Hill Condo
As premiums continue eroding, homeowners may not feel as urgent as before.
Expect prices to remain flat between minus 1 percent and 2 percent in 2024. Most likely, the price range will be at the lower end.
The prime land market experienced a year that was similar to the previous one. A limited amount of stock meant that the transaction volume decreased over the course of the year.
During the second half of 2023, S$2.1bn worth of landed houses were sold. This is a 26 per cent decrease from H1. Sales for the entire year totaled S$5billion, which was about 18 per cent below 2022. They were also 51,5 per cent below 2021’s high of S$10.2billion.
From eight deals in H1, only Two Good Class Bungalows GCBs were sold in the second half of 2023. The GCB sales market in Singapore recorded 10 transactions in 2023. That is only half of what was sold in 2020. The average unit land prices fell 42 per cent from S$2,952 to S$1,712psf during H2 2023.
