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Q1 new-home sales hit record 6,700

Figure even breaks a few full-year totals

Published on Apr 17, 2012


Artists' impressions of Ripple Bay condo in Pasir Ris. These developments were last month's top sellers. -- PHOTOS: MCL LAND, LOW KENG HUAT (SINGAPORE)

By Esther Teo, Property Reporter

BUYERS snapped up new private homes at such a blistering pace last month that they helped smash quarterly sales records.

Developers sold 2,393 new units - a touch down on February's 2,417 - making a total of 6,682 for the three months to March 31.

That is not only a record amount for a quarter but exceeds even the full-year totals racked up in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2008.

The March total hits 3,032 if executive condominiums (ECs), a hybrid of public and private housing, are included.

The rocket fuel for the remarkable sales run remains the amount of cash around in the market, a record number of home launches and rock-bottom interest rates that are enticing buyers to gear up.

Experts say that the unusually high number of launches boosted sales as Housing Board upgraders and local investors entered the suburban market in droves.

DTZ Asia-Pacific research head Chua Chor Hoon noted that 2,582 homes were launched last month, the highest monthly figure in almost two years.

Developers launched 6,982 homes in the quarter, the highest level since quarterly data was collected at the start of 1996.

Ms Chua added that developers were taking advantage of the current buying momentum and relaunching older projects.

There were a further 390 units launched at Riversound Residence, 153 units at Flamingo Valley, and another 100 units each at Archipelago, The Minton and The Palette last month.

Colliers research and advisory director Chia Siew Chuin noted that 76 per cent of sales were in suburban areas, where there were 'intense project launches'.

The strong sales since January have encouraged builders to keep rolling out units while demand is still strong and also before stiffer competition emerges in the form of more projects once the ample supply of state land gets developed, she added.

Buyers also seem to have shrugged off concerns over the global economy, concerns that kept a brake on sales in the second half of last year.

'Market uncertainties arising from the additional buyer's stamp duty are also over, with foreigner buying being curbed and the market still remaining stable,' Credo Real Estate executive director Ong Teck Hui noted.

Experts add that the demand for new homes is likely to hold firm, with mass market sales expected to stay strong.

But although the robust sales have heightened concerns about further cooling measures, they were mainly supply-driven and likely achieved at the expense of little movements in pricing, Colliers' Ms Chia said.

Flash estimates of private property values dipped 0.1 per cent in the first quarter and indicate that the Government's cooling measures have worked to put a lid on price growth.

'Additionally, the private residential market is in a state of flux. While the primary market is active, the secondary resale market has been slow,' said Ms Chia.

'Similarly, although the mass market remains buoyant, the mid-tier and high-end segments are lacklustre. (Thus), it would also be premature to decide on more interventions.'

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail also pointed out that 65 per cent of sales last month, including ECs, were below $1,200 per sq ft (psf). But while buyers are still keen on mass market homes, developers may face resistance if the psf price is too high, he said.

But Jones Lang LaSalle's South-east Asia research head Chua Yang Liang thinks that the risk of further cooling measures is now higher with robust suburban sales volumes.

Suburban home prices also gained 1.2 per cent in the first three months of the year, according to flash estimates.

'Any policy adjustment, however, is unlikely to affect first-time home buyers,' said Dr Chua. 'Buyers making their second, third or more home purchases, are more likely to be affected through further tightening of existing measures.'

The other segments languished behind, with only 57 homes sold in the city centre and 511 in the city fringe region.

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