The M, a new launch in February, accounted for the bulk of new sales volume at 39%, or 380 units.
Despite the COVID-19 outbreak and the Lunar New Year lull, new private home sales in Singapore soared 114.3% to 975 units in February from 455 units over the same period last year.
On a monthly basis, new home sales jumped 57.8% from January’s 620 units.
The M, a new launch in February, accounted for the bulk of new sales volume at 39% (or 380 units). The project sold over 70% during its launch weekend.
“It should be noted that price quantum continued to be an encouraging motivator, as 97.9% of all sales in The M are below $2 million,” said Desmond Sim, Head of Research for Southeast Asia at CBRE. “This is as The M is not shackled by the minimum average size of 85 sq m as they fall in the Core Central Region (CCR).”
Read: 3 Reasons Why The M condo sold well, despite the coronavirus outbreak
Lee Sze Teck, Research Director of Huttons Asia, revealed that the last time such high sales figure was achieved for a CCR project was back “at the peak of the market” in mid-November 2013, when 71% or 468 of the 660-unit DUO Residences was sold in three days.
Related story: 5-top selling condos in February 2020
Incidentally, the integrated development by M+S, a joint venture between Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional, is also situated in Bugis, near The M.
Aside from The M, other top sellers for February included previously launched projects such as Treasure at Tampines with 97 units sold, Parc Esta (53 units sold), Jadescape (46 units sold) and Parc Botannia (40 units).
The executive condominium (EC) segment also shone, with 339 units moved in February. Parc Canberra, last month’s only new launch, shifted 324 units.
Tricia Song, Head of Research for Singapore at Colliers International, said: “79% of the units sold at Parc Canberra ECs are priced below $1.2 million, hitting the sweet spot for first-timers or HDB upgraders.”
Including ECs, total new home sales for February stood at 1,314 units.
Looking ahead, Huttons expects March to be a quiet month with very few launches, while more previews were planned for April. These include Kopar at Newton, Cairnhill 16, 15 Holland Hill, The Landmark and Forett @ Bukit Timah.
And with year-to-date figures at 1,595 units, CBRE Research expects new home sales to fall within the range of 7,000 to 8,000 units, which remains the underlying demand of the market, despite a challenging H1 2020.
“Overall, affordability in terms of overall quantum continues to be the driver of demand. Buyers out there continues to be more discerning where location and developer’s reputation will swing their choices. The lower interest rate also seems to be another catalyst for buying momentum; however, affordability remains key for both EC and non-EC markets,” said Sim.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
