SINGAPORE: After a four-bedroom unit at Marina Bay Residences was sold at a S$3.227 million loss last month, a netizen quipped, “Who says property investment in SG sure makes money?” The condo resale was not only the most unprofitable transaction in August 2025 but also the biggest capital loss ever recorded in Marina Bay Residences, just three years after it was purchased.
According to property portal 99.co, the 2,379 square foot (sq ft) unit on Marina Bay’s 17th floor was sold for S$5.1 million, or S$2,144 per square foot (psf). While the development’s first four-bedder resale this year was in line with the project’s current average of S$2,131 psf, it was a sharp drop of nearly 40% from the price the seller had paid.
The seller acquired the unit in June 2022 for S$8.327 million, or S$3,500 psf—a 53.85% premium above the project’s average of S$2,275 psf, and the only four-bedder transaction that year.
In 2022, demand for larger units seemed strong enough to justify such a premium. However, the interest in four-bedroom layouts had waned this year.
That said, this was not the first time the same unit recorded a loss. The previous owner also exited at a loss of about S$713,000, even after selling at 53.85% above the project’s average psf. Since its first sale by the developer in 2007, the unit has changed hands four times. Its value peaked in 2013 and then began declining—a stark contrast to the S$2.741 million profit its original owner made in a 2010 sub-sale, just three years after buying the unit. That deal remains one of the most profitable condo transactions in Marina Bay Residences to this day.
Marina Bay Residences, a 99-year leasehold project with about 79 years remaining, rarely sees large four-bedroom units change hands. Only five such transactions have been logged in the past five years, two involving the same 17th-floor unit, with the latest being the first in 2025.
So far this year, three other condos at the development, which had been held much longer, between 15 and 17 years, were also sold at losses ranging from S$219,000 to S$496,169, though four profitable resales were also recorded.
The staggering unprofitable resale was described by the property portal as an “isolated fire sale” rather than a sign of the overall weakness of Marina Bay Residences.
Still, netizens were prompted to question whether property investment in the city-state always pays off.
One netizen quipped, “Who says property investment in SG sure makes money?” adding, “The more speculative buying after prices rose sharply, the more likely the last buyer will be the bagholder. I won’t be surprised if some newer condos today will be underwater in five to 10 years.”
Another remarked, “Someone clearly thought prices would go up even more.” Meanwhile, another said, “People who bought in the last four years will live to tell a similar story over the next 10 years.” /TISG
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