_Residential Market Update Q3 2023
Tentative Buying Sentiment as Price Increases Ease
October 10, 2023
Highlights
- Based on flash estimates by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the price index of non-landed private homes (excluding Executive Condominiums (ECs)) increased 2.1% q-o-q in Q3 2023, reversing from the 0.6% q-o-q marginal decline in Q2. In the first nine months of the year, non-landed home prices have grown 4.1% and 4.4% y-o-y.
- The total sales in Q3 2023 fell 17.4% q-o-q to 4,215 transactions from the 5,104 sales recorded in Q2. Despite the launch of several prominent projects mainly in the fringe and the suburban areas, take-up rate was selective and tentative, unable to lift sentiment as the buffet spread of choices might have caused decision fatigue among buyers, who are no longer showing the type of urgency exhibited a year ago. As such, new sales declined 9.1% q-o-q to 1,887 transactions in Q3.
- The sole launch in the CCR during the quarter was the 78-unit Orchard Sophia, with the first phase of 24 units that launched in August selling out. Despite this, new sales in the CCR fell 45.1% q-o-q to 242 units in Q3 2023. In the secondary market, transaction volume shrank 21.9% q-o-q to 378, bringing total sales in the CCR to 620 in Q3. The quieter sentiment also translated to a price fall of 2.6% q-o-q in the CCR in Q3 2023.
- The total non-landed transactions in the RCR fell 34.6% q-o-q to 1,681 sales in Q3 2023. The drop is attributed to the primary sales decline of 38.5% q-o-q to 950 units, as secondary sales volume dropped 28.8% q-o-q to 731 transactions.
- The OCR performed better than in the previous quarter, with 1,914 total sales recorded, rebounding from an 8.0% q-o-q decline in Q2 to a 19.0% q-o-q increase in Q3 2023. Primary sales rose more than seven times to 695 units in Q3, with the surge in new sales due to the launch of several projects. However, secondary sales decreased 19.7% q-o-q to 1,219 non-landed transactions.
- The rental market reached a turning point where the mass market, mid-end and high-end segments declined between 2% and 6% in Q3 2023, easing from the 1% to 3% increments recorded in Q2 2023. However, rents in the ultra luxury segment rebounded by a 5.0% gain in Q3 against the 4% drop in Q2.
Read the full report here.