Private home sales down 41.7% in June

Christopher Chitty17 Jul 2018

Image: Riverfront (Source: Christopher Chitty)

Developers sold 654 private homes (excluding executive condominiums) in June, down 41.7 percent from the 1,122 units sold in May and 20.2 percent lower over the same period last year.

Colliers International research head for Singapore Tricia Song said it is the lowest monthly transaction figure since February 2018, when only 384 units were sold.

However, Cushman & Wakefield senior director for research Christine Li noted that new home sales in June tend to “fall slightly due to the June school holidays, where buying activity slows and home buyers go on holiday. As such, developers tend to hold back launches during this period, leading to lower volumes”.

Song noted that prospective buyers may have also taken a more circumspect approach to home hunting in June, possibly avoiding pricier units.

The number of private homes launched in June fell 31.5 percent to 726 from 1,060 units in May.

The top five selling private residential projects for the month were Margaret Ville (with 121 units sold), Affinity at Serangoon (107 units), The Garden Residences (64 units), Twin Vew (64 units) and 120 Grange (42 units).

Song attributed the weaker sales at the two neighbouring projects Affinity at Serangoon and The Garden Residence to their benchmark pricing of over $1,500 per sq ft in the Serangoon North enclave.

Looking ahead, analysts expect new home sales in July to surpass that of June.

This comes as the last minute launches of Park Colonial, Riverfront Residences and Stirling Residences on the night of 5 July before the measures took effect, may have resulted to sales of over 1,000 units, said JLL national research director Ong Teck Hui.

In fact, double digit sales “continued to be registered at these three projects after 5 July, a testament to the adequate liquidity and fundamentally healthy demand in the market,” revealed Huttons Asia research head Lee Sze Teck. “We will probably see around 1,500 units being clocked for the month of July.”

Thereafter, new home sales are expected to decline significantly over the next few months as the market takes stock of the new cooling measures’ potential implications, said Song. “Developers and buyers are also likely to shun the month of August due to the Ghost Month which starts on 11 August.”

Despite this, Ong remain optimistic of Singapore’s residential property outlook.

“Although geopolitical tensions and the new round of cooling measures have injected some uncertainty into the market, the property market is still positioned for growth. Singapore’s economic outlook remains firm and Singapore aggregated household balances remain healthy and flush with cash,” he said.

“Furthermore, downside risks remains relatively low due to current cooling measures and loan curbs. Despite a higher barrier of entry, the value proposition of the Singapore residential sector remains attractive.”

 

Senior Content Producer, Christopher Chitty, edited this story

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