Recently, a penthouse in Tribeca condominium sold for $1 million below its computer-generated X-Value. This is huge money but in percentage terms it is a discount of only 17%.
Retail bargain hunters don’t even sit up and take notice until they see a sale for 20% or more. I just checked Zalora’s online clothes site and its latest tag line is “The Great Singapore Sale is Over but Fret Not.” Zalora is promoting a “mad markdown” with up to 50% off.
Imagine a 50% markdown on a penthouse valued at $6 million?
Given the price quantum in real estate, we rarely see discounts of 50%. But, discounts of up to 20% off X-Value happen more frequently these days. In fact, in the last month, a home in Blu Coral sold at a discount of 4% and a 4-room HDB on Yishun Avenue 6 sold 13% below its X-Value.
The private rental market, which according to SRX Property is down 13% from its peak, is in the middle of a big sale of sorts. For example, in October, a low floor home in the Reflections at Keppel Bay rented for $1,750 below its X-Value, which is a 27% discount per month. This translates to an annual savings of a whopping $21,000. (Let’s hope the renter spends some of his or her savings in restaurants and shopping malls as this will help stimulate the economy.)
Due to the Cooling Measures, there is a Great Singapore Property Sale taking place. If you plan to stay in your home for quite some time, there are several favourable conditions working to your advantage, including low interest rates and tempered seller expectations. Sellers have accepted the fact that the years of sky high cash-over-valuations (COV) are over. Today, the property market is much more transparent and most homes will trade within plus or minus 20% of X-Value, depending on whether the market is trending up or down.
Since the market is flat with a slight downward trend, there are more opportunities to buy a home below X-Value than ever before. But, like a fashion boutique with a sale on, not all of the dresses are marked down. You should sort through the market’s property listings and run X-Value calculations on them to shortlist potential deals. While SRX.com.sg gives you a head start in identifying projects that sold below X-Value, I would recommend that you hire a real estate agent as your “personal shopper”.
In retail fashion, personal shoppers help you find the perfect dress for your complexion, shape, and sense of style. In real estate, professional buyer agents help you find the right home. Not only that, agents have a fiduciary responsibility to advocate and protect your interests by helping you to negotiate the right price. In a down market, the right price will likely fall below X-Value in more than half the deals.
In other words, while personal shoppers find the right dress at the store’s pre-determined sale price, real estate agents go a step further by finding the right home at the right price. When it comes to shopping, what could be better than a nationwide home sale in which your agent can negotiate a further discount off the listed price?
Shop The Great Singapore Property Sale now!