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Thread: New home sales surge 28% in Feb

  1. #1
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    Default New home sales surge 28% in Feb

    http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...8-feb-20140318

    New home sales surge 28% in Feb

    But March figures likely to be subdued, say experts

    Published on Mar 18, 2014

    By Cheryl Ong


    NEW home sales here kept picking up pace last month, as developers returned to the market with major new suburban launches.

    But experts expect this month's figures to be subdued, and estimate that total sales for the first quarter will still be about 30 per cent lower than that for the fourth quarter last year.

    They said February's upswing might reflect a stabilising market, but that a rebound in buying demand would still largely depend on how developers price units.

    Home hunters bought 724 units last month, a 28 per cent surge from the 565 units sold in January, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed yesterday. This excludes sales at executive condominiums.

    The upswing was driven by two launches in Sengkang West, where 550 units went on sale. This helped the suburbs record 588 sales, leading the overall tally.

    "With the market more attuned to the raft of cooling measures and financing curbs, as well as the festive lull behind, developers released two new mass-market projects in the suburbs," said Ms Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at Colliers International.

    Frasers Centrepoint's 495-unit Rivertrees Residences moved 218 units at a median $1,111 per sq ft (psf), while UOL Group's 555-unit Riverbank @ Fernvale sold 211 units at a median $1,033 psf.

    "Despite being (in) strong competition to each other, both adopted competitive pricing strategies," said Dr Chua Yang Liang, head of research and consultancy, South-east Asia, at property firm Jones Lang LaSalle. "The conditions today require developers to be more sensitive to the market, where value for money is key."

    On the city fringes, 87 units were sold, while 49 units were moved in the city centre.

    Experts said projects launched earlier felt the pressure from new launches, as developers slashed prices at older developments.

    Property agency OrangeTee's research head Christine Li pointed to 10 per cent price cuts at MCL Land's Hallmark Residences in Bukit Timah, where 26 units were sold for a median price of $1,860 psf last month. "February's sales of Hallmark Residences could be a silver lining in the market: As long as developers can forgo some margins, but still be profitable, buyers do come back," she said.

    Buyers picked up 23 units at EL Development's La Fiesta in Sengkang and 22 units at Fragrance Group and World Class Land's Urban Vista in Tanah Merah.

    CBRE research head Desmond Sim said prices are "relatively stable" despite minor corrections of 1 per cent to 3 per cent at older projects. He said the discounts may have been for "less saleable units at older launches".

    Still, Mr Sim said March sales figures are not likely to be strong. He expects sales this month to come in at between 400 and 500 units due to a dearth of new launches, and first-quarter sales to hit 1,800 units, 30 per cent below that sold in the preceding three months.

    "The future new home sales market will very much be dependent on how developers want to move sales in a quieter market," said Ms Li.

    But developers are also waiting to see who makes the first move, said Mr Sim, adding: "It is also a matter of who blinks first... Developers don't want to cannibalise each other too."

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  2. #2
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    Default S'pore private home sales up in Feb

    http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/arch...s-feb-20140318

    Published March 18, 2014

    S'pore private home sales up in Feb

    More units launched, mostly outside central region

    By Lynette Khoo [email protected]


    [SINGAPORE] Private home sales are expected to slow in March after picking up last month, given the cautious mood and a lack of new launches.

    Developers sold more new private homes in February than a month ago, with top selling projects located outside the central region (OCR), data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) shows.

    There were 724 private homes sold in February, up from 565 units in January and more than the 712 units moved in February last year. Another 45 executive condominiums (ECs) were sold last month, unchanged from January.

    Developers also launched more units in February, mostly in the OCR area, following a slow festive season in January. Some 671 units were launched islandwide last month, up from 549 units in January.

    With no major new project launch in sight, property consultants are expecting new home sales to be lacklustre this month.

    Christine Li, research head at OrangeTee.com, noted that buyers are increasingly selective given the loan limit imposed by the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework, so existing projects are under pressure from newer ones.

    "It seems that developers also noticed the trend and decided to increase marketing efforts of existing launches, instead of pushing out new projects," she said, adding that upcoming launches of Highline Residences by Keppel Land at Kim Tian Road and Santorini by MCC Land in Tampines are likely to be postponed.

    Alan Cheong, Savills Singapore research head, said that if MCL Land launches the Lakeville project in Jurong West this month, this may help to bring the total sales in March to about 650 units. Otherwise, sales in March may slip to below 350 units.

    "Moving forward, if a project is priced within market expectations, the trend will be to witness rapid sales at the initial launch when units carrying a smaller price quantum get taken up," he added. "Thereafter, sales should taper off."

    This trend is already seen even in recent top selling projects, Rivertrees Residences and Riverbank@Fernvale, which were launched last month. The two projects accounted for close to 60 per cent of primary home sales last month.

    At Rivertrees Residences, developed by a consortium led by Frasers Centrepoint Homes, a total of 218 units were sold out of 300 units launched at a median price of $1,111 psf. Most of the units were moved during its weekend launch.

    Similarly, most of the 211 units sold - out of 250 units launched - at UOL Development's Riverbank@Fernvale, were moved on the first day of launch. The units were sold at a median price of $1,033 psf.

    It is no surprise that these are top sellers, as buyers are now drawn to attractively priced projects, said ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim. "Going forward, we can expect the number of sales achieved by developers to be a function of the number of attractively priced units launched."

    Other top selling projects in OCR last month include EL Development's project La Fiesta, which sold 23 units with a median price of $1,182 psf; and Urban Vista, a project of Bayfront Realty, which sold 22 units with a median price of $1,259 psf in February.

    MCL Land's Hallmark Residences, located in the core central region along Ewe Boon Road, released another 15 units and found buyers for 26 units last month at a median price of $1,860 psf.

    The highest selling price on a psf basis last month was achieved by Keppel Land's Corals at Keppel Bay, where one unit was sold at $2,888 psf.

    PropNex Realty chief executive Mohamed Ismail said that buyers have become very price-sensitive post-TDSR and are willing to wait for a project with a good location and pricing.

    "If developers want to sell their units faster under the current sluggish market conditions, they must demonstrate a willingness to price their projects reasonably," he added. But he reckoned that developers are not likely to cut prices significantly given the land prices at which they secured the sites previously.

    Mr Mohamed Ismail said that he expects new home sales in the first quarter to be 60 per cent lower than that in the same period last year. "This quarter, sales could potentially range between just 1,800 and 2,000 units in total, which is one of the lowest in the past three years."

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