The 99.co Property Report for 2Q 2018 (and 3 Key Takeaways)

Just when property watchers thought that the party was just getting started in 2Q 2018, up came the government, who pulled the rug from under our feet as the 3rd quarter barely got under way. So, putting together the Quarterly Property Report for 2Q 2018 feels a tad surreal, as if we’re observing a sci-fi parallel universe in which the new cooling measures had NOT been implemented.

Regardless, 2Q 2018 still makes for compelling discussion and debate. Our Quarterly Property Report infographic below summarises the key figures and statistics of the past quarter, based on data from the 99.co property portal and official sources, namely URA and HDB:

While there are some eye-openers in our Quarterly Property Report, every “wow” is tinged with a sense of uncertainty (or a measure of joy for homebuyers who’ve been praying for property prices to stop rising). Will the top performing districts and HDB towns still hold strong in the upcoming quarter? Will we see lower top transacted prices? Although no one can answer these questions for certain as of now, we can surely gain a few interesting lessons from how things panned out in 2Q 2018. These are our three key observations/takeaways:

1. A bumper quarter for District 19

Earlier in the 2nd quarter, we trumpeted D19’s attributes and why it’s the district to watch. And sure enough, buyers agreed; D19 saw the highest transaction volume for both condo and landed properties (out of all districts in Singapore) in 2Q 2018. Specifically, there were 407 resale transactions for condos out of the 1,164 total volume, and 96 landed transactions.

Of the resale condo transactions, Watertown was hands down the hottest project. Completed in 2017 and integrated with Punggol’s Waterway Point shopping mall, Watertown had the most enquiries on the 99.co portal out of all the condos in Singapore. In the end, 22 units changed hands during the quarter.

Elsewhere in D19, Sengkang was the most transacted HDB town. Not surprising, given that Sengkang now commands one of the highest profits for owners who bought BTO units in the area. HDB buyers are also looking at Hougang, lodging the most searches for this HDB town on 99.co than any other town in Singapore. [Browse all Hougang resale HDB flats on sale here.]

 

2. The East is hotting up

Not to be outdone is the East, namely District 14 (Eunos/Geylang/Paya Lebar) and District 15 (East Coast/Marine Parade). For condos, D14 registered the highest average sale psf price growth in the quarter, rising an unprecedented 27.34%. Clearly, buyers are hot on the Paya Lebar story, with the massive Paya Lebar Quarter commercial and business hub due to open by the end of 2018. Alongside the project and expected to TOP by end-2020 is Park Place Residences, a condo that sold 186 units in its final phase launch (of 219 units) during the quarter.

Buyers also keenly searched for condo properties for sale in the East, with D15 the district recording the most searches on the 99.co portal in 2Q 2018. There has certainly been a lot of buzz for D15 in the past months, which saw new launches such as Amber45 (freehold) selling 86 units and Seaside Residences (99-year leasehold) selling 87 units during 2Q 2018. For resale condos, Costa Rhu and Neptune Court recorded 18 and 17 transactions during the quarter respectively.

Families are also eyeing D15 as an ideal place to live. One of the key amenities in the district is the renowned Tao Nan School — the primary school most frequently chosen on 99.co’s ‘Search by School’ function. [Browse all properties for sale within 1km of Tao Nan School here.]

 

3. The continued appeal of the fringe

City fringe properties took a lot of the spotlight (yet again) in 2Q 2018. Once again, we could see it in our search data: Kallang-Whampoa was our most heavily searched HDB town for rentals while, in the West of Singapore, both buyers and renters sought to live near Buona Vista MRT — the most frequently chosen MRT station on 99.co’s ‘Search by MRT station’ function. Also in the West on the fringes of the city, the newly-completed Commonwealth Towers received the most enquiries for rent out of all the condo projects in Singapore.

At the same time, URA and HDB’s transaction records mirrored our observations for both condo and HDB city fringe properties. Queenstown, which had five HDB resale transactions of $1 million or over during the quarter, registered the highest quarter-on-quarter growth in average sale psf price (3.93%) of all HDB towns. Meanwhile, a HDB flat built under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) at Boon Keng sold for a 2Q 2018 high of $1,120,088. Curious about what a million dollar HDB flat looks like? Check them out on Singapore’s largest property portal.

For more on the Singapore property market in 2Q 2018, follow our coverage with these stories:

These are the 5 most in-demand HDB towns of 2Q 2018

5 non-prime condos that took centre stage in 2Q 2018

Is 2018 the year Paya Lebar (and D14) becomes property gold?

 

If you liked our Quarterly Property Report, 99.co recommends 5 reasons why Canberra is the property location to watch and Loan-to-value (LTV) limit: a Quick Guide for Property Buyers

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