A higher percentage of luxury condominiums in the secondary market were sold at a lost during the first eight months of the year, while those that made a profit were fewer, according to media reports citing data from URA’s Real Estate Information System (REALIS).
Between January and August 2014, seven percent of the transacted units in the prime districts 9, 10 and 11 failed to make a profit versus 5.5 percent during the same period a year ago.
At the same time, the percentage of sellers who earned from their transactions fell to 62.2 percent from 83.5 percent, while only 4.5 percent broke even compared to 0.4 percent previously.
Specifically, a unit at The Hillier in Bukit Timah recorded the lowest loss of $9,300, while a condo at St Regis Residences suffered the highest loss of $2.06 million when it was resold for $4.7 million in April 2014. It was originally purchased for $6.8 million in September 2007.
“A large proportion of purchases in the prime districts are by foreigners; perhaps they are just pulling out of Singapore. But the fall in demand for private homes makes it harder for sellers to find buyers. So if they really need to sell, they will have to lower their prices significantly,” said DTZ’s Research Head for Southeast Asia Lee Lay Keng.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
