FEWER viewings resulting from tighter restrictions during Singapore's heightened alert period saw condominium resale volumes slide 11.4 per cent month on month in May, property analysts noted on Tuesday.

Fewer viewings resulting from tighter restrictions during Singapore's heightened alert period saw condominium resale volumes slide 11.4 per cent month on month in May. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

About 1,722 units changed hands in the month, compared with 1,944 units resold in April 2021, according to flash figures from real estate portal SRX Property.

However, the drop in sales volume was not as drastic as a year ago during the "circuit-breaker" period. May 2021 volumes are still about nine times that of May 2020 and 86.6 per cent higher than the five-year average volumes for the month of May.

By region, more than half or 59.3 per cent of resale volumes came from the outside of central region (OCR), 23 per cent from the rest of central region (RCR), and 17.6 per cent from the core central region (CCR).

Resale prices continued to climb, rising 0.9 per cent from April. The RCR and OCR saw prices increase 1.8 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively, while CCR prices slipped 0.7 per cent in May 2021.

Year on year, overall prices rose 6.9 per cent. All regions saw price increases, with the CCR, RCR and OCR rising 2.8 per cent, 6.4 per cent and 8.7 per cent, respectively.

Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, noted that the supply of new mass-market homes remains limited, and demand is still outstripping supply in the suburban areas.

SRX said a resale unit at The Marq on Paterson Hill fetched the highest transacted price at S$13.3 million. In the RCR, a unit at Reflections at Keppel Bay was the most expensive at S$5.7 million, while the highest transacted price in the OCR was for a unit at St Patrick's Residences resold for S$3.5 million.

The overall median capital gain stood at S$190,800 in May 2021, down S$9,200 from April 2021.

District 21 (Clementi and Upper Bukit Timah) saw the highest median capital gain at S$377,000, while District 4 (Sentosa and Harbourfront) was the only district that posted a median capital loss of S$135,000.

SRX calculates the capital gain or loss of a condo resale unit by comparing the current transacted price with the same unit's previous transacted price. Capital gain data includes only districts with more than 10 matching transactions.

ERA Realty head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak said private residential property sales volume in the primary and resale market will likely bounce back in the months after Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) is lifted.

"The higher transaction volume would also support the continuing rise in housing prices unless the government were to intervene with another round of cooling measures," he noted.

Echoing the sentiment, PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying noted several factors supporting the resale market. These include firm new launch home prices, the dwindling supply of unsold new units, as well as delays in the completion of new projects due to construction sector disruptions.

By VIVIENNE TAY