Singapore condo resales plunge 57% in April amid circuit breaker period: SRX

The partial lockdown measures from the start of a "circuit breaker" period hit Singapore's property market in April, sending the resales of private non-landed homes tumbling although again prices barely moved, according to flash data on Tuesday (May 12).

The number of condominiums and private apartments resold in April plunged 57.3 per cent to 309 units from 723 units in March, the figures from real estate portal SRX Property showed.

Year on year, resales last month dived 62.2 per cent, compared with April 2019. They were also 66.8 per cent lower than the five-year average volumes for the month of April.

Orange Tee & Tie head of research and consultancy Christine Sun said she found April's 309 resale home transactions "encouraging" given that no house viewings could be conducted during the circuit breaker period, which began on April 7.

"Although some have turned to virtual house tours as an alternative, it will still take time for remote house viewings to gain traction as potential buyers may still prefer to make a final inspection of the units before they make a purchase," she said.

She also noted that while the resale volume was low when compared with recent months, it was still not the lowest ever. Using the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Realis data as a gauge, as SRX historical data was not immediately available, she said the last lowest volume was 305 units resold in January 2015. 

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