Luxury condo sales volume down 3.5% q-o-q in 3Q2024: Huttons Asia
The deluxe apartment market saw a decline in sales in 3Q2024, according to data collected by Huttons Asia. In its most recent Prestige Report that monitors the premium residential market, the consultancy says a projected 55 high-end non-landed homes– which it specifies as condo units located in the Core Central Region that are sizing from 2,000 sq ft and cost at $5 million and over– were sold in 3Q2024 for $407.7 million. This stands for a 3.5% decline in transactions amount and a 15.5% decrease in sales value compared to the 57 luxury apartment units sold for $482.5 million in 2Q2024.
The largest GCB deal in 3Q2024 was a property in Tanglin Hill that was supposedly sold for $93.9 million, or $6,198 psf on its acreage of 15,150 sq ft.
Looking ahead of time, Yip believes sale and rental transactions for the high-end flat market could be higher in 4Q2024, generated by need from ultra-wealthy foreign locals in the UK finding to relocate ahead of suggested tax reforms, including the abolishment of a tax obligation regime that gives concessions for people with offshore capital.
Yip observes that enquiries in the high-end apartment market have boosted, with many coming from newly-minted Long-term Citizens (PRs) and people that had obtained their PR or citizenship last year following the hike in ABSD. “A lot of them got a luxury non-landed home upon approval of their PR or citizenship,” he states.
Nonetheless, the numbers reveal a significant enhancement compared to the 37 high-class condominium units sold for $295.8 million that Huttons disclosed in 3Q2023. During the time, the marketplace was staggering from the April 2023 roll-out of cooling actions, including an increase in additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) for immigrants to 60%, together with an anti-money laundering suppression in August 2023.
In the rentals market, the total average monthly rent of expensive non-landed homes increased 2.7% q-o-q to $14,932. The record includes that there was more attention in four-bedroom high-end condo units, with the typical rent for this classification growing at a faster speed of 3.6% to hit $18,389 each month throughout the quarter.
In the GCB rental market, the top service deal in 3Q2024 was for a GCB in Chatsworth Park that brought a month-to-month rental fee of $120,000.
This brings the variety of GCB arrangements to 25 for the first nine months of the year, going beyond the 20 that were approximated to have transacted for the entire of 2023. The overall value of GCBs offered to day this year clocks in at $958.7 million.
“Due to the potential change to the tax obligation status of some 74,000 non-domiciled residents in the UK, several of these ultra-wealthy foreign locals may emigrate to safeguard their properties. The nations under consideration include Dubai, Italy, Singapore and Switzerland,” Yip discusses.
Yip indicates that there were 8 high-end non-landed homes transacted at $10 million and above in 3Q2024, that is two less than the 10 deals logged in the last quarter. “Nonetheless, there were some non-caveated offers like a five-bedroom unit in Hills (a property luxurious flat on Cairnhill Circle) that was claimed to be cost around $13 million,” he continues.
On a y-o-y basis, deluxe apartment sales number is raise 48.6% in 3Q2024, while sales market value is up 37.8%. “Activities in the high-end non-landed homes market are back to the pre-cooling actions days,” states Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia.
The Good Class Bungalow (GCB) market likewise viewed a pick-up in activity in 3Q2024. An approximated 12 GCBs were offered last quarter, up from eight GCBs in 2024. The cottages marketed in 3Q2024 brought a total of $541.2 million, 80.9% higher q-o-q.
The biggest high-end condo sell 3Q2024 was the developer sale of a 4,198 sq ft unit at 32 Gilstead for $14.71 million ($3,505 psf). The property development on Gilstead Road by Kheng Leong Corporation also saw the 2nd and third-largest deals throughout the quarter. The units sold are both 4,209 sq ft houses that fetched $14.65 million ($3,480 psf) and $14.44 million ($3,432 psf) respectively in September.
