New Reporter
18-04-23, 11:39
Buying sentiment turns cautious as Q1 new home sales fall below that of last year
Apr 17, 2023
WHILE sales of new private residential units continued rising in March, analysts are pointing to buyers becoming wary ahead of a flood of new launches amid economic uncertainty.
March new home sales, though up for the third straight month, were 43.8 per cent below the five-year average for the month at 876 units, noted Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research, South-east Asia.
“Compared to the early part of 2022, take-up has largely moderated and buying sentiment has turned cautious amid record high interest rates and a slowing economy,” said Song. Tallying volume for the quarter, new home sales for Q1 2023 came to 1,318 units, almost 30 per cent lower than the 1,880 units sold over the year-ago period, she added.
With inflation still prevailing, interest rates high and the economic environment uncertain, Knight Frank Singapore head of research Leonard Tay said price-sensitive homebuyers, especially in the mass market segment, might turn cautious. Luxury homebuyers, less dependent on debt financing, would continue to support prime demand.
Tay sees prices in the prime segment likely moving up as core central region (CCR) prices have not risen as quickly as the rest of the island, while price growth in the mass market may begin to ease outside of new launches at benchmarks. “This could result in a possible two-tier market emerging in the coming months,” he said.
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data released on Monday (Apr 17) showed that in March, developers sold 492 units, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), up 13.6 per cent from the 433 units sold in February.
The number of units sold last month was 24.8 per cent down from the 654 units sold in March 2022.
The bulk of March’s transactions came from the outside central region (OCR), where 230 units or 46.7 per cent of total units sold (excluding ECs) were transacted, mostly from the launch of The Botany at Dairy Farm.
Another 40 per cent of March sales or 197 units came from the prime CCR, and the remaining 13.2 per cent or 65 units were in the rest of central region (RCR).
Including ECs, 513 units were sold in March, up from the 471 units sold in February and down from the 702 units sold in March 2022.
There were 573 units launched in March, a 42.9 per cent increase from the 401 units that came to market in February.
The Botany at Dairy Farm in the OCR was the month’s best seller, moving 184 of its 386 units at a median price of S$2,068 per square foot (psf), which market watchers put down to it being priced lower than other new suburban projects.
The next two best performers were Leedon Green in the CCR which sold 26 units at a median price of S$2,957 psf and RCR project The Landmark, where 24 units were sold at a median price of S$2,626 psf.
https://i.imgur.com/E3Pn6xT.png
Almost half or 46 per cent of new sales in March were transactions of S$2 million or more, “a reflection of the amount of liquidity in the market”, said Huttons Asia senior research director Lee Sze Teck.
Close to 30 per cent of new sales volume were in the S$1.5 million to S$2 million range, while 25.4 per cent of deals were in the S$1 million to S$1.5 million bracket, noted CBRE’s Song.
Singaporean buyers accounted for 77.3 per cent of monthly sales, said PropNex Realty’s head of research and content Wong Siew Ying. Another 14.5 per cent of units were bought by Singapore permanent residents.
Units sold to foreign buyers in March made up 7.8 per cent of sales in March, with almost three-quarters being CCR sales, according to Huttons’ Lee.
For the quarter, the share of foreign homebuyers in the CCR inched up from 15.5 per cent in Q4 2022 to 15.7 per cent in Q1 2023, based on caveats data as at Apr 12 and excluding ECs, noted Tay from Knight Frank.
Eighteen new non-landed homes were sold for at least S$5 million last month. The most expensive new unit sold was a 2,056 square foot freehold unit at Klimt Cairnhill which changed hands at S$7.6 million or S$3,697 psf. No new non-landed transactions crossed the S$10 million mark, noted Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie’s senior vice-president of research and analytics.
In the months to come, analysts see sales supported by several upcoming launches including Blossoms by the Park, The Continuum, and Lentor Hills Residences. Huttons’ Lee noted how Tembusu Grand, which launched earlier in April, moved 340 units or 53 per cent of the project at an average of S$2,465 psf.
Lam Chern Woon, Edmund Tie head of research and consulting, said new home prices were noticeably firmer in March.
Seven of the top 10 projects including Leedon Green, The Landmark and Pullman Residences Newton saw higher median sales prices in March, compared to four projects in February. “These seven projects saw prices rising by 2.6 per cent month on month on average in March... As unsold inventory gets pared down, developers are emboldened to raise pricing in accordance with sustained market demand,” he said.
Nicholas Mak, chief research officer of Mogul.sg, pointed out that new projects were “very front-loaded”, with the bulk of sales sealed within the first month of launch, “after which, sales will drop off quite drastically”.
Analysts expect new home sales to come in at between 7,500 and 10,000 units this year. Forecasts for prices range from 3 to 8 per cent. Some 7,099 new homes were sold in 2022, a 14-year low since 2008’s 4,264 units, said CBRE’s Song.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/property/buying-sentiment-turns-cautious-q1-new-home-sales-fall-below-last-year
Apr 17, 2023
WHILE sales of new private residential units continued rising in March, analysts are pointing to buyers becoming wary ahead of a flood of new launches amid economic uncertainty.
March new home sales, though up for the third straight month, were 43.8 per cent below the five-year average for the month at 876 units, noted Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research, South-east Asia.
“Compared to the early part of 2022, take-up has largely moderated and buying sentiment has turned cautious amid record high interest rates and a slowing economy,” said Song. Tallying volume for the quarter, new home sales for Q1 2023 came to 1,318 units, almost 30 per cent lower than the 1,880 units sold over the year-ago period, she added.
With inflation still prevailing, interest rates high and the economic environment uncertain, Knight Frank Singapore head of research Leonard Tay said price-sensitive homebuyers, especially in the mass market segment, might turn cautious. Luxury homebuyers, less dependent on debt financing, would continue to support prime demand.
Tay sees prices in the prime segment likely moving up as core central region (CCR) prices have not risen as quickly as the rest of the island, while price growth in the mass market may begin to ease outside of new launches at benchmarks. “This could result in a possible two-tier market emerging in the coming months,” he said.
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data released on Monday (Apr 17) showed that in March, developers sold 492 units, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), up 13.6 per cent from the 433 units sold in February.
The number of units sold last month was 24.8 per cent down from the 654 units sold in March 2022.
The bulk of March’s transactions came from the outside central region (OCR), where 230 units or 46.7 per cent of total units sold (excluding ECs) were transacted, mostly from the launch of The Botany at Dairy Farm.
Another 40 per cent of March sales or 197 units came from the prime CCR, and the remaining 13.2 per cent or 65 units were in the rest of central region (RCR).
Including ECs, 513 units were sold in March, up from the 471 units sold in February and down from the 702 units sold in March 2022.
There were 573 units launched in March, a 42.9 per cent increase from the 401 units that came to market in February.
The Botany at Dairy Farm in the OCR was the month’s best seller, moving 184 of its 386 units at a median price of S$2,068 per square foot (psf), which market watchers put down to it being priced lower than other new suburban projects.
The next two best performers were Leedon Green in the CCR which sold 26 units at a median price of S$2,957 psf and RCR project The Landmark, where 24 units were sold at a median price of S$2,626 psf.
https://i.imgur.com/E3Pn6xT.png
Almost half or 46 per cent of new sales in March were transactions of S$2 million or more, “a reflection of the amount of liquidity in the market”, said Huttons Asia senior research director Lee Sze Teck.
Close to 30 per cent of new sales volume were in the S$1.5 million to S$2 million range, while 25.4 per cent of deals were in the S$1 million to S$1.5 million bracket, noted CBRE’s Song.
Singaporean buyers accounted for 77.3 per cent of monthly sales, said PropNex Realty’s head of research and content Wong Siew Ying. Another 14.5 per cent of units were bought by Singapore permanent residents.
Units sold to foreign buyers in March made up 7.8 per cent of sales in March, with almost three-quarters being CCR sales, according to Huttons’ Lee.
For the quarter, the share of foreign homebuyers in the CCR inched up from 15.5 per cent in Q4 2022 to 15.7 per cent in Q1 2023, based on caveats data as at Apr 12 and excluding ECs, noted Tay from Knight Frank.
Eighteen new non-landed homes were sold for at least S$5 million last month. The most expensive new unit sold was a 2,056 square foot freehold unit at Klimt Cairnhill which changed hands at S$7.6 million or S$3,697 psf. No new non-landed transactions crossed the S$10 million mark, noted Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie’s senior vice-president of research and analytics.
In the months to come, analysts see sales supported by several upcoming launches including Blossoms by the Park, The Continuum, and Lentor Hills Residences. Huttons’ Lee noted how Tembusu Grand, which launched earlier in April, moved 340 units or 53 per cent of the project at an average of S$2,465 psf.
Lam Chern Woon, Edmund Tie head of research and consulting, said new home prices were noticeably firmer in March.
Seven of the top 10 projects including Leedon Green, The Landmark and Pullman Residences Newton saw higher median sales prices in March, compared to four projects in February. “These seven projects saw prices rising by 2.6 per cent month on month on average in March... As unsold inventory gets pared down, developers are emboldened to raise pricing in accordance with sustained market demand,” he said.
Nicholas Mak, chief research officer of Mogul.sg, pointed out that new projects were “very front-loaded”, with the bulk of sales sealed within the first month of launch, “after which, sales will drop off quite drastically”.
Analysts expect new home sales to come in at between 7,500 and 10,000 units this year. Forecasts for prices range from 3 to 8 per cent. Some 7,099 new homes were sold in 2022, a 14-year low since 2008’s 4,264 units, said CBRE’s Song.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/property/buying-sentiment-turns-cautious-q1-new-home-sales-fall-below-last-year