Singapore private home sales rebound with 9% increase in October, Property News & Top Stories
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SINGAPORE – Sales of new private homes rebounded in October, after two months of consecutive declines, despite the tightening of Covid-19 measures still in place.
A total of 909 units moved last month, up 9% from 834 units in September, although still lower than the 1,216 units in August, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday (15 November).
Sales last month were 39 percent higher than the 654 units sold in October of last year.
There were 661 new homes put on the market last month, which is three times more than the 210 units launched in September and 39% more than the 423 units a year ago.
Ms. Christine Sun, senior vice president of research and analysis at real estate company OrangeTee & Tie, noted that demand is holding up well in all three market segments.
New home sales in the suburbs accounted for 38.2% of total sales, followed by homes on the outskirts of the city and central Singapore at 30.9% each, she said.
A total of 10,918 new homes were sold in the first 10 months of this year, surpassing full-year sales in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Ms. Sun said she expects sales to reach an eight-year high with around 12,200 to 12,600 transactions this year. The previous record was in 2013 with 14,948 units.
When executive condominiums (ECs) are included, new home sales fell 19.4% to 1,045 units last month, from 1,296 in September.
However, last month’s numbers were up 50.6% from October last year and recorded the highest monthly sales for October in five years.
Despite no new EC launches last month, the developers sold 136 EC units.
Park Greenwich EC, launched in September following strong demand, moved 84 units last month at a median price of $ 1,251 per square foot (psf).
Mr. Lee noted that the number of unsold EC units in the market is “very low” with only 221 units based on the latest figures.
“Based on this year’s monthly sales rate of 108 EC units, excluding months where there are EC launches, there could be no more EC units available in the market by the time North Gaia in Yishun Close will be launched for sale in the first quarter of next year, âhe said.
Ms. Sun of OrangeTee noted that the supply of new homes is expected to decline further next year, as fewer collective agreements have been reached in the past two years.
“Given the limited supply of housing, many buyers are now buying for fear that prices will rise further and housing choices will be limited in the future,” she said.
PropNex Realty Managing Director Ismail Gafoor said there also appears to be a resurgence of interest in new homes in central Singapore with the reopening of borders via Vaccinated Traffic Lanes (VTLs).
The buying momentum is expected to accelerate as new avenues of this type are announced, he added.
âVTLs have allowed more foreign buyers and foreign investors to have easier access to Singapore’s real estate market,â he said, noting that foreigners accounted for 6.8% of home purchases. new in October.
This is one of the highest percentages since 2018, when foreign buyers accounted for 6.3% of new home sales, he added.
The buying momentum last month was boosted by Jervois Mansion, a freehold condominium project in District 10, which sold 99% or 104 of the 105 available units at a median price of $ 2,553 psf, a noted Lee Sze Teck, Senior Director of Research at Huttons Asia.
The low-rise project, which is close to the Bishopsgate-Chatsworth (GCB) good-class bungalow area, was launched in September.
The second best-selling project last month was Normanton Park, which sold 73 units at a median price of $ 1,839 per psf. It has consistently been in the top 10 best-selling projects list since it launched in January.
The most expensive purchase last month was a freehold penthouse at Nassim Homes for $ 75 million, or $ 6,210 per square inch, making it “perhaps the most expensive penthouse per quantum per inch. square in recent years, âMr. Lee said.
Knight Frank Singapore Research Director Leonard Tay noted that while the private residential market has so far “remained healthy with genuine buyers,” there may come a point next year when buyers will eventually resist. to rising prices.
“Considered with the expected increase in national lending rates in the second half of 2022, the current window characterized by strong sales may not last beyond the next 12 months,” he said.
“Therefore, it is likely that developers with ongoing projects will use the next six to nine months to launch and reduce inventory before the fervor of the post-pandemic recovery eases with the higher mortgage rates expected. “
At least four residential projects are expected to launch in the last two months of the year and will cover all three market segments, said Nicholas Mak, head of research and advice at ERA Realty.
These are Cairnhill 16 in central Singapore, CanningHill Piers on the outskirts of town, and The Commodore on the outskirts.
Le Mori, a 137-unit freehold condo in the Geylang area, is also slated to launch in the fourth quarter of this year.
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