Sales of Private Homes fall anew

 The Property market sector registered another low-performing month, as sales of private homes had a sharp decrease with just 107 sold private units in January.

January’s sale output is the lowest mark since data concerning private property sale became accessible in 2007. The drop is associated with the absence of significant market launches and strategic moves from developers.

For the past months, real estate industry has been suffering from unproductive sales of property units, which first slide to as low as 118 sales for the month of October.

In December, 157 units were launched that results to 131 sales. With expectation of higher sales output, the developers launched 204 units for January, which ended to just 107 sales.

Nicholas Mak, Knight Franks’ research and consultancy director, said that the industry’s sale forecast still remains uncertain, citing buyer’s behaviour as the primary factor for the downfall.  

The Aristo Amber and Nova 88 are last month’s best performers, selling 14 units and 16 units respectively.  

Despite last month’s outcome, things are looking good this month as two significant market launches have just been executed.  

The 712-unit Caspian has been the month’s top performer, which sold 470 units since it was released in the first week of the month. The initial price for a unit at the 99-year leasehold was pegged at $580 per sq ft, but it suddenly ballooned to $600 per sq ft.

Alexis Alexandra, a 293-unit condo, is also garnering high sales output, which is reported to have already sold 100 percent of its units on Saturday.

“Certainly, there is renewed confidence in the market for properties that are priced right, as many HDB upgraders and investors are able to pick up such units at a lower quantum,” said Propnex chief executive Mohd Ismail. Propnex agreed to join hands with Era to market Caspian, which prices started from $450,000 worth bedroom to roughly $1.8 million worth penthouses.

Li Hiaw Ho, the executive director of CBRE Research, associated the strides of the projects to desirable factors such as competitive units, good locations, and creative array of units.  

He also added that the tie-up between developers and banks, which offer interest absorption scheme have also contributed to the rise of sales.