New home sales fall amid fewer launches, but sentiment upbeat
SINGAPORE — New private home sales fell by more than a third last month from April amid a lack of new launches. But analysts said underlying momentum remains strong, with the total number of units sold in the first five months of the year still well above that in the corresponding period last year.
SINGAPORE — New private home sales fell by more than a third last month from April amid a lack of new launches. But analysts said underlying momentum remains strong, with the total number of units sold in the first five months of the year still well above that in the corresponding period last year.
Developers sold 1,024 private homes last month, down 34.3 per cent from the revised 1,558 units they offloaded in April, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data released yesterday showed. They launched only 339 units last month, down sharply from the 1,616 homes in April.
Ms Tay Huey Ying, head of Research & Consultancy, Singapore, at property firm JLL, said: “Despite this dip, market sentiment stayed upbeat as evidenced by the robust sales volume seen for previously launched projects. Demand for units from previously launched developments has stayed elevated at above 1,000 units for three consecutive months (1,079 units in March, 1,004 units in April and 1,008 units last month).”
From January to last month, developers sold 5,273 homes, up 61 per cent from the first five months of last year, data from PropNex Realty showed. Amid the dearth of new launches, buyers flocked to the projects previously launched, with sentiment continuing to be underpinned by the easing of cooling measures in March, especially the Seller’s Stamp Duty.
PropNex Realty chief executive Ismail Gafoor noted that buyers continued to pick up units nearing their Temporary Occupation Permit dates, just as they did in April. The bestselling projects last month were Parc Riviera in West Coast Vale, where 83 units were sold at a median price of S$1,246 per sq ft; followed by The Santorini in Tampines, where 64 units were sold at a median price of S$1,022 per sq ft; and Commonwealth Towers, where 53 units were sold at a median price of S$1,841 per sq ft.
New home sales are expected to dip this month due to the school holidays, but analysts said developers will put more units on the market next month, ahead of the traditionally slow Hungry Ghost Festival that begins on Aug 22. Notwithstanding seasonal dips, Mr Ismail said the trend of strong demand will continue, adding that he is optimistic that new private home transactions will exceed 10,000 units by the end of this year.
“More consumers will come to the realisation that the market has bottomed out and prices are likely to inch upwards with the strong land bid prices we are currently witnessing. This might in turn propel them to make the move in their property purchases,” he said.
In a research note on the Singapore residential sector, OCBC Investment Research analysts Eli Lee and Andy Wong said: “We recognise that an increase in collective sale transactions could bring forward the recovery in home prices as developers move quickly to replenish their land banks.”
“Just earlier this month, we saw MCL Land’s en bloc acquisition of Eunosville for S$765.8 million ... This came on the heels of the Oxley-led consortium’s en bloc acquisition of Rio Casa for S$575 million and brought the year-to-date total to S$1.5 billion — already past the S$1 billion and S$380 million annual totals seen in 2016 and 2015, respectively,” they added.