Sophia Hills in Mount Sophia was the top-selling private residential project last month.
UPDATED: Sales of new private homes excluding executive condominiums (ECs) rose 15.4 percent to 758 units in October from 657 in the previous month, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday (15 November).
However, developer sales fell 39.5 percent from the 1,253 units sold in October 2016 when Forest Woods and The Alps Residences were launched.
Despite the lack of new major launches last month, analysts noted that the residential market remains buoyant.
“There is a stronger sense of urgency amongst buyers as they are sensing that developers are likely to increase prices of existing projects in tandem to new project launches in 2018,” said Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex Realty.
Tricia Song, research head at Colliers International Singapore, noted that some buyers returned to the market following the end of the Ghost Month in September.
The two most popular condominiums last month – Sophia Hills at Mount Sophia and Martin Modern in Robertson Quay – are both located in the Core Central Region (CCR).
Sophia Hills sold 62 units at a median price of $2,029 psf while Martin Modern moved 47 units at a median price of $2,343 psf.
PropNex revealed that the CCR remains a sought-after location for home buyers.
“Today’s CCR property prices, averaging between $2,000 psf to $2,300 psf, are deemed very attractive because 2018 new launches in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) are predicted to hit well above $1,700 psf, thus narrowing the price gap in these two regions,” said Ismail.
“Many home investors are seeing the CCR value entry prices now, hence these properties are going to continue to pick up in the next few months.”
Song expects the momentum in November to rise due to good sales seen at the recent launch of Parc Botannia. The project in Sengkang sold about 230 units at an average price of $1,270 psf.
She thinks that new private home sales could hit 11,000 units for the whole of 2017, up 38 percent from 7,972 units last year.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
