Sales volume for private residential units, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), dropped nine percent month-on-month to 1,101 units in February, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
This comes on the back of the increase in developers’ launches for new property projects, which rose 37 percent month-on-month to 1,710 units launched in March, said JLL.
“From the headline numbers, we see there has been a marginal correction in the sales volume in February, following the punitive government policies in (on) 13 January 2011,” it said.
The Outside Central Region (OCR) saw a 23 percent month-on-month increase in sales last month, driven by good take-up rate of the units at Waterfront Isle, which sold 282 out of 350 units launched this month.
“The star performer in February was the 561-unit Waterfront Isle, which reported a total of 282 units sold at the median price of S$997 psf,” said Li Hiaw Ho, Executive Director of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Research. “Its main selling points were attractive pricing relative to other new launches in the eastern part, as it includes rebates, and its proximity to the Bedok Reservoir MRT station, which will be opened in 2017.”
Sales volume in the OCR was also boosted by strong sales of Palmera East, as well as the popularity of Keppel Land’s The Lakefront Residences, where it sold 34 units this month despite launching only 31 new units.
Meanwhile, sales volume in the Core Central Region (CCR) and Rest of Central Region (RCR) fell 30 percent and 45 percent respectively. The decline in the CCR was attributed to slower sales in the larger developments like d’Leedon and Altez, while the drop in the RCR was mainly due to below-50 percent take-up rates of all the developments launched in February.
“In our opinion, the policy is effective in removing (the) speculative buying,” said Dr. Chua Yang Liang, Head of Research South East Asia. “The numerous policies set in motion previously, including this latest round, have eradicated much of the speculation, leaving largely the genuine home buyers and the long term investors at play.”
“The fairly resilient nature of the market suggests that there could be a larger fundamental market demand than we have assumed or even understand.”
Mr. Li also noted that the activity in the high-end market in February was subdued.
“We observed that only seven units priced above S$2,500 psf were sold, compared to over 30 units in January. The highest price of S$3,277 psf was achieved by a unit in Tomlinson Heights in February, while in January, it was achieved by a unit in Scotts Square, at S$4,626 psf.”
“With 2,310 new homes sold in January and February, we expect the total sales volume in the first quarter of 2011 to be around 3,000 units, with a possibility of exceeding this number if there is a major launch in the next two weeks of March,” he said.