The condo resale market seems to be experiencing some moderation, with resale prices increasing by a mere 0.1% in June 2023. This comes after an average monthly price increase of 1.25% from February to May.
According to URA data captured as of 19 July, June 2023 also saw 33 unprofitable resale condo transactions, with the capital loss averaging around S$339,000.
(The capital loss excludes other costs of selling a house, such as stamp duty, legal fees and agent’s commissions.)
For instance, the lowest capital loss recorded in the month was S$9,300 from the sale of a 1,604 sqft unit from Reflections at Keppel Bay. Initially bought for S$2,859,300 in July 2007, the unit was sold 16 years later for S$2.85 million. This translates to 0.3% capital loss, or 0.02% when annualised.
Meanwhile, the most unprofitable resale transaction came from Marina Collection, for the sale of a 2,789 sqft unit that recorded a capital loss of S$2,542,160.
It was sold for S$5 million after a holding period of 15 years. The owners had bought it for S$7,542,160 in June 2008. This works out to a capital loss of 33.7% or 2.7% when annualised.
What got our attention was that this was not the only unit from the Sentosa Cove development that sold at a huge loss.
Top 2 condo losers in June 2023 sold at over S$2m loss
When we filtered the data to find the top condo losers in the month, we found that there were two transactions with capital losses of over S$2 million.
What’s even more striking was that both transactions were from Marina Collection.
One of them is the sale of the 2,789 sqft unit that recorded the highest capital loss in the month.
The other transaction is for a slightly smaller unit (2,788 sqft) that was sold for S$4,522,886 in June 2023. The owners had held it for 13 years, after buying it in January 2010 for S$6.97 million. This meant that the capital loss was S$2,447,114 (35.1%), which was the second-highest capital loss in the month. Meanwhile, the annualised loss is 3.27%.
If you have been following our monthly condo loss stories, you would also have noticed that it’s not the first time a unit from Marina Collection has topped the list of monthly condo losers.
Back in May, we reported that a 3,272 sqft unit from the development recorded the biggest condo loss in April at S$4.65 million.
A likely factor contributing to the losses is that prices of homes at Marina Collection have been on a downward trend since 2013, recording a huge drop of 41.95%.
After prices at the condo climbed for four years to reach a peak of S$2,921 psf in 2013, prices have tumbled over the last 10 years. While there were slight price increases in the past decade, the prices have never reached the same level as in 2009 to 2013. As of year-to-date, the average price psf is S$1,696.
The biggest condo losers in June 2023 had an average holding period of 12.5 years
We also wondered what’s the correlation between the holding period and capital loss of a condo unit. So we filtered the data to find the transactions with a capital loss higher than the average loss of S$339,000.
| Condo name | District | Floor area (sqft) | Purchase price and date | Sale price and date | Capital loss | Years held | Annualised loss |
| Marina Collection | 4 | 2,789 | S$7.54m
June 2008 |
S$5m
June 2023 |
S$2.54m
33.7% |
15 | 2.70% |
| Marina Collection | 4 | 2,788 | S$6.97m
Jan 2010 |
S$4.52m
June 2023 |
S$2.45m
35.1% |
13 | 3.27% |
| Marina Bay Suites | 1 | 1,571 | S$3.54m
Dec 2009 |
S$2.88m
June 2023 |
S$662k
18.7% |
14 | 1.47% |
| Reflections At Keppel Bay | 4 | 2,476 | S$5.50m
May 2007 |
S$4.9m
June 2023 |
S$596k
10.8% |
16 | 0.715% |
| Wallich Residence | 2 | 861 | S$3.19m
Nov 2017 |
S$2.6m
June 2023 |
S$586k
18.4% |
6 | 3.33% |
| The Boutiq | 9 | 1,884 | S$3.30m
Sep 2014 |
S$2.73m
June 2023 |
S$573k
17.3% |
9 | 2.10% |
| Marina Bay Suites | 1 | 2,067 | S$4.44m
Dec 2009 |
S$3.9m
June 2023 |
S$544k
12.2% |
14 | 0.928% |
| Marina Bay Residences | 1 | 1,055 | S$2.91m
Apr 2010 |
S$2.4m
June 2023 |
S$510k
17.5% |
13 | 1.47% |
| Scotts Square | 9 | 947 | S$3.35m
Jan 2010 |
S$2.9m
June 2023 |
S$450k
13.4% |
13 | 1.10% |
Figures (except floor area) in the table are rounded off to 3 significant figures.
These nine transactions with the highest capital losses in the month have an average holding period of 12.5 years.
Here’s a breakdown of the holding periods:
| Holding period (years) | No. of condos |
| Below 10 years | 2 |
| 10 – 15 | 6 |
| 16 – 20 | 1 |
Among these loss-making transactions, a majority were held between 10 to 15 years. The bigger sizes of the units also indicate that they’re more likely to be bought for owner-occupation.
Most of the condos were also bought during property booms in 2007 (1), 2008 (1), 2010 (3) and 2014 (1), leading to higher purchase prices.
This may also explain why the owners were reluctant to cut their losses, holding on to these units for such a long time until recently.
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57.6% of the condo losers in June 2023 were less than 1,000 sqft
In general, the average floor area of these 33 condo losers was 1,142 sqft.
What’s striking was that more than half (57.6%) of the loss-making units had a floor area below 1,000 sqft. If we break down the numbers even further, six of the loss-making units measure less than 500 sqft (most probably studios and 1-bedders). So they’re more likely to be bought for rental income.
The average holding period of these smaller condos (less than 1,000 sqft) is also lower at nine years. The owners were probably more ready to sell their properties, even if it meant selling them at a loss.
Meanwhile, 77.8% of the top condo losers have a floor area above 1,000 sqft. And as mentioned earlier, the average holding period was 12.5 years. The longer holding period could mean that the owners were less ready to sell their homes to cut their losses, adopting a wait-and-see approach for the right time to exit.
Ready to cut your losses and sell your property? Let us help you get the right price by connecting you with a premier property agent.
If you found this article helpful, 99.co recommends Is there an optimal holding period to maximise capital gains? We look at resale EC transactions in June 2023 and Which types of condos were bought below S$1 million since the start of 2023?
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