Sentosa Cove prices lag the mainland, with most resales at a loss

The turning point was April 2023, when the government raised ABSD for foreign buyers from 30% to 60%. The Cove is the one place in Singapore where foreigners may own a landed house (see Singapore landed for foreigners), so the change bears directly on its buyers.

Landed deals thinned out quickly. EdgeProp counted 9 Cove bungalow sales in 2023, half the 18 of 2022, although the average price rose 15.8% to S$2,247 per square foot of land, helped by a S$36.5 million sale on Coral Island. Of those 9 buyers, 5 were Singapore citizens, 2 were Chinese nationals and 2 were Indian permanent residents. Only 2 landed homes changed hands in 2024. Two more sold in early 2025, on Ocean Drive for S$12.15 million and on Cove Drive for S$14.8 million.

Condominium prices fell further. In April 2024, The Residences at W was relaunched from S$1,648 per square foot, about 40% below what its developer achieved in 2010 to 2014, and 81 units sold by December. EdgeProp reported that the Cove’s median condo price fell 15% in 2024. In November 2025, The Straits Times reported that Cove condo prices had fallen from a median of S$2,125 per square foot in 2023 to S$1,728 in the first nine months of 2025, and landed prices from S$2,210 to S$1,842, while the median in the prime mainland districts rose from S$2,081 to S$2,186.

On 30 July 2026, Bloomberg published a feature describing empty and deteriorating homes in the Cove. Other outlets that reported on it cited three causes. The first is the rule that foreigners who buy landed homes here must live in them and cannot rent them out, so some houses stand empty. The second is the Cove’s distance from everyday amenities such as malls and hawker centres. The third is the upkeep of homes exposed to salt air.

In August 2026, an analysis by Mogul.sg, first reported by The Business Times, found that 64.5% of Cove resales between May 2023 and June 2026 were made at a loss, up from 62.8% in the previous three years. The average loss narrowed from S$1.56 million to S$1.28 million. About half of landed resales since 2023 made a profit, a better record than the Cove’s condominiums.

Current asking prices for Cove houses are gathered on the market board, and the differences between the Cove and mainland landed are set out in Sentosa Cove and mainland landed.