SINGAPORE’S private property market is off to a strong start this year, with new-home sales in January coming in at a record-setting pace.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said yesterday that 1,476 new homes were sold last month, sharply higher than the 481 units sold in December and 601 sold in November.
It is also the first time monthly sales figures have risen since July last year.
In fact, January’s sales were so exuberant that buyers bought more units than the number launched by developers that month.
They also set a faster pace than the average 1,230 units sold per month in 2007 – a year which saw a record 14,811 new homes snapped up.
Property analysts said yesterday that this has set the tone for this year. Demand for new homes is expected to be strong, especially in the higher-end segments of the market.
URA figures seemed to confirm this trend. Almost half of the new homes sold – 699 units – were in prime areas such as Cairnhill and Holland Road, otherwise known as the core central region.
The region saw the largest jump in number of units launched and sold. Developers launched almost five times the number of units – 690 in January, up from 126 in December – while the number sold tripled in January from 218 in December.
By comparison, mass market or suburban condominiums, which drove the property boom last year, accounted for just 29per cent of the units sold last month.
PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said: ‘The middle- to high-end markets are certainly moving. Some 76per cent of homes were sold at above $1,000 per sq ft (psf), a proportion not seen for over 30 months.’
CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said that a positive economic growth forecast for this year and pent-up demand following sluggish sales in the last three months of last year could have contributed to the sterling start.
Prime property sales were led by RVEdge in River Valley, where 91 units were sold at a median price of $1,696 psf, and Urban Suites in Cairnhill, where 88 units were sold at a median of $2,506 psf.
URA’s figures showed that another 350 homes sold were in the city-fringe areas, led by City Developments’ Cube8 in Thomson Road – January’s top-seller. Out of 177 Cube8 homes launched, 167 units sold at a median price of $1,286psf.
Far East Organization’s The Shore Residences, in the East Coast, also did well, with 144 units sold out of 202 launched, at a median psf price of $1,200.
CBRE’s Mr Li noted that, in general, the smaller one- or two-bedroom units continued to be popular because they cost less in absolute terms.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak added that based on caveats that have come in for January so far, the resale market is also showing similar strong volume.
But for now, prime properties are nowhere near the record-breaking levels of the last property peak in 2007. Last month’s sales did not see any homes priced above $4,000 psf, he noted.
In a separate report released yesterday, property consultancy DTZ Research said that the move towards higher-priced homes was already evident in the last quarter of last year, when home purchases of $3million and above made up 8per cent of all transactions, inching up from 7per cent in the previous quarter.
DTZ agreed that the high-end segment will see greater price appreciation this year. But it said that a runaway increase in prices is not likely as concerns like credit tightening in China and weak consumer demand in the US and Europe remain.
Following the Chinese New Year holiday, developers are expected to launch more projects, such as The Estuary in Yishun and Sentosa Quayside.
Source : Straits Times – 18 Feb 2010
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