https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/resale-condos-stay-on-the-market-longer-as-buyers-take-their-time-and-sellers-hold-firm-on-prices?ref=top-story
Resale condos staying on market longer as buyers take their time, sellers hold firm on prices
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Resale condo listings are staying online for nearly twice as long as they did during the post-Covid-19 market peak.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
SINGAPORE – When a two-bedroom condominium unit in Serangoon failed to sell after two months, the property agent persuaded its owner to reduce the $1.92 million asking price by $100,000.
In May, an offer was made for the 1,100 sq ft leasehold unit, which was first listed in early February.
But that deal fell through because the potential buyer was facing issues selling his own home – a common hurdle for buyers who need to dispose of one property before buying another.
The agent, who declined to be named, said: “Today’s buyers have many choices among resale units and they will take their time to shop for the best buy.”
Today, that unit has been on the market for at least four months. It is a sign of how some resale condo units are taking longer to sell as buyers hold back and new launches compete for demand.
Some sellers also continue to hold out for higher prices because higher land costs mean the cost of replacing a home is expected to rise further over the next 12 to 18 months, said Wong Shanting, director and head of research at real estate adviser Newmark Singapore.
Data from property portals PropertyGuru and 99.co showed resale condo listings are staying online for nearly twice as long as they did during the post-Covid-19 market peak.
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In 2022, listings for completed resale condos were taken off the PropertyGuru portal after a median of 45 days. The following year, this went down to 39 days.
But as at May 18, 2026, active resale listings created in the first three months of the year had a median age of 81 days.
Similarly, 99.co associate head of research Joel Lim noted that resale condo listings taken off the portal in the first quarter of 2026 had been up for a median of 106 days.
This was up from 66 days in the same period in 2025.
“The resale condo market has clearly shifted from the urgency we saw at its peak,” said PropertyGuru Singapore’s managing director Yao Lu.
With listings staying up longer, buyers have more options and more time to decide, and market conditions have moved in the buyers’ favour, he added.
And the trend has been consistent across all parts of Singapore – the core central region (CCR), rest of central region (RCR) and outside central region (OCR).
On PropertyGuru, the median age of active listings as at May 18, 2026 was between 81 and 82 days across all three regions. Four out of 10 listings in each region had been live for more than 90 days.
For 99.co, the CCR saw the sharpest increase, with the median age of active listings rising to 145 days in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 76 days in the same time period in 2025.
In the RCR, it rose to 116 days from 69 days while in the OCR, it rose from 60 days to 86 days.
John Tan, who has been looking for a resale condo unit, said he has viewed more than 30 units since a year ago, but has not been able to strike a deal yet.
“Many of the units I saw were priced well above the market rate. And if the location of the unit is good, there is no room for negotiation,” said the 40-year-old sales manager.
“Not only were some sellers not willing to lower their prices, but they also asked for an extension to stay in their homes after the completion of the sale. I also would need to sell my flat in order to buy their property.
“If I allow them to extend, I would also need to ask for an extension after I sell my flat. That way, it is very hard to close any deal,” he added.
The number of resale condo units sold has fallen for two consecutive quarters since the July to September period in 2025.
However, asking prices have remained firm.
PropNex chief executive Kelvin Fong said the median resale unit price was $1,770 per sq ft as at May 19, 2026, up from $1,747 psf in 2025.
In contrast, the median for new condo sales is 44.3 per cent higher at $2,554 psf.
Fong said these figures show that private residential resale demand has not weakened materially. He added that the 3,225 units resold in the first three months of 2026 were still broadly in line with the 10-year quarterly average resale volume of 3,216 units from 2016 to 2025.
Chief researcher and strategist at property firm Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group Christine Sun said the slowdown in transaction volumes can also be observed in other sectors such as the HDB resale, rental, and the industrial markets.
She attributed the broader slowdown partly to macroeconomic uncertainties, including geopolitical conflicts, more layoffs in some sectors and rising inflationary concerns from higher oil prices.
Sun said the resale market could still remain resilient, as the supply of newly completed units is low and the price gap between new and resale condo units remains substantial.
Recent changes to executive condo rules, including a higher allocation of units to first-time buyers and longer minimum occupation period, may encourage more potential HDB upgraders to turn to the resale market, Sun added.
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