The Singapore private property market has seen more signs of a slowdown in the second quarter.
According to property consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), about 4,000 new home units were sold in Q2, down from 4,380 units sold in Q1.
CBRE also estimated that about 3,400 to 3,600 resale home units were sold in the resale market in Q2, 15-percent to 20-percent lower than the 4,261 resale homes sold in Q1.
As the market became less bullish, sub-sales declined from 806 in Q1 to around 500 in Q2. Sellers were also aware of the stamp duty payable if they sold their unit within the year of acquisition.
The number of HDB upgraders who purchased private homes also dropped. Almost 33.7 percent of new home buyers in Q2 2010 had HDB addresses, which is lower than the 37.9 percent of HDB upgraders who made up the new home buyers in the previous quarter.
The reduction could be due to a smaller supply of mass-market type projects being released in Q2, said CBRE.
Nevertheless, the property consultant forecasted that almost 8,300 new home units were sold in the first half of 2010. This is almost 56.5 percent of the 14,688 new homes sold last year.