Huge losses despite a nine-year holding period

Despite a nine-year holding period, two condominium units in the Central Region were resold at a loss of more than $300,000.

The bigger loss of $350,000 was from the sale of a 775 sq ft unit at The Clift. The seller had purchased the unit direct from the developer in January 2008 at $2,194 psf, which was the top 10% of all new sale transactions in the project.

The unit was resold last month at a $1,742 psf, a five-year low. Currently, there are 46 listings for The Clift on TheEdgeProperty.com with prices starting from $1,922 psf.

The second property was a 1,561 sq ft unit at Reflections at Keppel Bay, which was resold at a loss of $315,600. The seller had also held the property for nine years, having bought it in May 2007. The purchase price of $2,124 psf was in the top 25% of all new sale transactions in the project.

The unit was resold in June for $1,922 psf. There are 261 listings for Reflections at Keppel Bay on TheEdgeProperty.com with prices starting from $1,460 psf.

Meanwhile, the most unprofitable transaction in the week of June 28 to July 5 was traced to a 732 sq ft unit from Hijauan, which was disposed of at a $489,500 loss this month after being held for less than five years.

The seller had purchased the unit directly from the developer in December 2011 for $2,581 psf and resold it for $1,913 psf. This marks the first resale transaction at Hijauan, based on URA caveat records. The project was completed in 2015.

Prices for private non-landed homes in the Core Central Region is now 8% below the 1Q2013 peak and about 7% below 4Q2011 prices, according to flash estimates by the URA.

Separately, the holding period for the top 10 profitable deals in the non-landed segment averaged 14 years.

The highest profit was from the sale of a 2,088 sq ft unit at Mandalay Mansion in District 11. The seller had purchased the unit in December 1999 for just $397 psf and resold it for $996 psf last month, which translates into an annualised gain of 6%. Mandalay Mansion is a 25-unit freehold apartment on Minbu Road in Novena.

In the landed home segment, a terraced house along Jambol Place in District 5 changed hands at a profit of $1.6 million or an annualised gain of 9%. The property with a land area of 2,002 sq ft was held for more than 12 years before it was resold for $2.5 million last month, or $1,249 psf on land.