Sales of prime non-landed residential properties fall 33.4% y-o-y in 2023: Knight Frank

There were 64 prime non-landed residential transactions in Singapore in 2H2023, totalling $503.9 million, according to a report by Knight Frank released on Jan 8. This is less than half of the $1.2 billion transactions in 1H2023. For the whole of 2023, transactions of prime non-landed residential properties amounted to $1.7 billion, a 33.4% y-o-y decrease from the $2.5 billion recorded in 2022.

Knight Frank classifies prime residential properties as non-landed private residential units with a floor area of more than or equal to 2,500 sq ft in Districts 1, 2, 4, 9 ,10 and 11.

Nicholas Keong, senior director and head of residential and private office at Knight Frank, attributes the decline in transaction volumes to the increase in additional buyer’s stamp duty rates last April. This, coupled with a mismatch of price expectations between buyers and sellers, drove the average price of prime non-landed residential properties down 6.6% y-o-y, from $2,464 psf in 2H2022 to $2,382 psf in 2H2023.

The largest sale last quarter was for a 10, 710 sq ft penthouse in Goodwood Residences sold for $34 million ($2,988 psf). This was followed by a 6,082 sq ft condo unit in Bishopsgate Residences which was sold for $22 million ($3,617 psf).

Meanwhile in the landed market, a total of $2.1 billion changed hands in 2H2023, according to the Knight Frank report. This marks a half-yearly drop of 26% from $2.9 billion in 1H2023. This is the fourth consecutive half-yearly decrease in sales volume. 2023 closed with a total sales volume at $5 billion, an 18.3% drop from $6.1 billion in 2022.

(Credit: Knight Frank Singapore)

“Buyers remain willing to pay top dollar for the luxury of space these homes provide,” says Keong. “Newly developed landed homes by boutique developers, while costly due to elevated material and construction costs, continue to appeal to buyers when weighed against the option of rebuilding aged properties themselves.”

According to Knight Frank, only 10 Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) changed hands in 2023, compared to 20 GCBs transacted in 2022. Keong says “purchasers of these luxury properties are more likely than not to occupy and enjoy these status [properties], often using these assets for capital preservation and legacy planning”.

On the market outlook, Knight Frank expects prime non-landed home prices to move between -1% and 2% in 2024.