Sales of new private homes remain tepid.
UPDATED: Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), property developers sold 536 new private homes last month, down 50 percent from the 1,065 units sold in May, according to fresh data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The significant drop in sales can be attributed to the lack of new units launched in June. Only 234 units were released to buyers, down more than 80 percent from the month before.
According to JLL, the only new project launched during the month was an eight-unit landed housing development in East Coast Terrace.
Desmond Sim, Head, CBRE Research, Singapore and South East Asia, said the absence of major new launches saw buyers turning to existing projects.
The best-selling condo project in June was Kingsford Waterbay at Upper Serangoon View, which sold 34 units at median price of $1,185 psf, followed by The Glades at Tanah Merah (32 units at median price of $1,402 psf).
Looking at the first half of the year, 73 percent of the units sold were from projects that were launched more than six months ago, noted Sim.
“This is a continued positive sign for the market as the unsold stock inventory is slowly but steadily being reduced. The creative pricing of projects by developers was the key to successful sales.”
Meanwhile, developers moved 3,763 units in the first half of 2016, 9.8 percent higher than the 3,427 units disposed in H1 2015, said JLL.
“Although sentiments have become more positive, demand improvement is gradual with many buyers still remaining cautious and price-sensitive,” said Ong Teck Hui, National Director of Research & Consultancy at JLL.
“On the one hand, there is improved optimism arising from increased transactions and the perception that the market may be bottoming out, while on the other, concerns still remain due to the economic uncertainties and more recently, the aftermath of Brexit.
“However, barring shocks from the external environment, a sanguine outlook for the private home market is likely for the rest of the year with developer sales in 2016 probably exceeding that of 2015,” he added.
Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex Realty, expects sales numbers to hover at an average of about 500 to 700 units for the rest of the year. “For the whole of 2016, we envisage sales volume to be between 7,000 to 8,000 units in all,” he said.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
