Condo Resale Volume Hots 2-Year High

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Condo resale volume has hit 2-year high in August, while prices firmed slightly in what observers see as another sign of the Singapore's property market's growing recovery from the effects of*the Covid-19 pandemic.

An estimated 1,052 resale condominiums and apartments changed hands last month - up 7 per cent from July and 36.3*per cent higher than in August last year, according to flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property on Tuesday (Sept 8). The last highest volume was achieved in July 2018 - the month when property cooling measures were announced - when 1,100 units were resold.

For new home sales, analysts are now estimating 2020 new home sales could top 2019.

With travel still restricted, the strong demand comes from locals. The strong demand from HDB upgraders was evidenced by mass market homes in the outside central region (OCR) accounting for nearly 60 per cent of August's resale transactions. As in July, this group of buyers have entered the private resale market in greater numbers, with many flats becoming eligible for resale recently by obtaining their five-year minimum occupation period.

Ms Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie, said August's stellar resales of private homes seem to be in tandem with the positive sales trends observed in other market segments.

The strong housing demand across the different market segments may indicate that Singapore's property market could be showing some "early signs of recovery", said Ms Sun.