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Private home sales dipped 4% in May

Latest Property Real Estate News - Published on 15/06/2011

April private home sales dipped almost 4% M-on-M to 1,825 units transacted. Discounting Executive Condominium (EC) units, the plunge was a whopping 12% to 1,575 units.
“The last cooling measures announced on 13 January have certainly impacted buyer confidence as seen in the slight decline in transactions in May,” surmises PropNex CEO Mr Mohamed Ismail.
In May, all the top selling projects came from the Outside Central Region (OCR), with four projects sold over 100 units: Terrase sold 184 units at a median price of $994psf, Belysa sold 162 units at $691, and Foresque Residences sold 141 units at $1,108sf, while Eight Courtyards sold 137 units at $806 psf.
He concedes that these four projects were certainly instrumental in the robust sales figure of May, accounting for 624 units, or about 34% of all the units sold.
“This point is more noteworthy when we consider that fact that close to 60% of all the units sold were in the mass market, or under $1,200psf,” Ismail highlights, explaining that it is the affordable price of the four best-selling projects in May that facilitated such a relatively healthy volume of transactions.
“The strong showing in the mass market indicates the sustained interest in private property by HDB upgraders,” Ismail continues, “who invest with a mid to long term view and are not concerned with the cooling measures implemented on 13 January.”
 
Ismail expects June’s sales to hold steady, with over 1,500 units sold, given that investor confidence and buying interest will be upheld after the hubbub of the General Elections and return to power of the ruling party.
“Furthermore, given the fact that developers are expected to launch more projects in the coming months and the economic growth is at an unexpectedly strong 8.5% for 1Q11, the volume of sales should continue to maintain levels above 1,500 units per month for the next few months.”
However, he cautions that this forecast is not withstanding further cooling measures by the Government, and any unforeseen disaster or economic downturn.
“Developers must also remain sensitive to the pricing of their projects,” he concludes.
 
 
 
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