Located near Queenstown MRT station, Queens Peak was the top-selling private condo last month.
Sales of new private homes, excluding executive condominiums, dropped by 28 percent in February 2018 to 377 units from 524 in the previous month, according to latest data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday (15 Mar).
The figure is down 61.5 percent from the same period last year when 979 units were sold.
Analysts were not surprised by the drop in transactions, which is the lowest recorded since 367 units were sold in December 2016.
“If we compare February 2018 with January 2017, both Lunar New Year months, there is some similarity in the low key launches and sales,” said Ong Teck Hui, national director of research & consultancy at JLL.
The property consultancy noted that 186 units were launched last month versus 108 units launched and 382 units sold in January 2017. “So the low key performance in February is not indicative of a market slowdown,” said Ong.
In fact, several existing projects still managed to draw buyers. The top performer was Queens Peak near Queenstown MRT station, which sold 47 units at a median price of $1,730 psf. This was followed by Kingsford Waterbay at Upper Serangoon and Artra in Alexandra View, which moved 34 and 30 units at $1,349 psf and $1,726 psf respectively.
Ong expects home buying activity to pick up from March as developers resume project sales and more buyers return to the market after the festive lull.
Upcoming launches include The Tapestry at Tampines Avenue 10, Park Place Residences at Paya Lebar Quarter and Rivercove Residences – the only EC launch for the whole of 2018.
Developed by City Developments Limited, The Tapestry held its showflat preview on 10 March and bookings are scheduled for 24 March.
“Strong interest has been observed at the showflat on the opening weekend, and it is expected to be well-received by buyers,” said Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Realty.
For the whole of 2018, Lim forecasts total developer sales to reach 12,000 to 14,000 units, up 13 percent from last year.
Check out our review of Queens Peak, or view other project reviews!
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
