Total residential investment sales slumped to $862.4 million in Q4 2013 from $2 billion in the previous quarter due to the debilitating effects of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) and Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework, according to Savills.
During the last three months of 2013, investors only bought one en-bloc site (251–251F Pasir Panjang Road) and 25 luxury homes, with a minimum price of $10 million each. The properties are worth a total of $412.6 million, but this represents a 20.8 percent drop from Q3.
“For the whole of 2013, there were 123 luxury homes sold, representing a decline of 27.6 percent from the 170 recorded a year ago, while the collective sales market saw nine sites transacted in 2013 compared with 2012’s 22 sites,” said the consultancy.
Another reason for the weak investment sales climate was that only two residential sites were auctioned off under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme in Q4.
Despite Singapore’s cooling residential market, both sites located at Upper Serangoon View attracted healthy bids of $522 psf ppr, which was submitted by Kingsford Development, a China-based property developer.
“This creates a dilemma for local developers; on one hand, they have to replenish their land banks at reasonable prices amid weakening residential property sales, and on the other hand, they are facing keen competition from overseas developers who have ample liquidity and are eager to enter the local market,” noted Savills.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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