Singapore new private home sales fall 11.6% in April

[reporter2]

http://www.straitstimes.com/business...l-116-in-april

Singapore new private home sales fall 11.6% in April

Published 16 May 2016

Rennie Whang


SINGAPORE - Sales of new private homes last month fell 11.6 per cent from March, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday (May 16).

Developers sold a total of 745 new private homes in the month, compared with 843 in the preceding month.

The drop in sales came on the back of fewer launches. There were two large projects launched in March - Cairnhill Nine and The Wisteria - along with a relaunch of The Poiz Residences.

In comparison, just one new large condominium project, Sturdee Residences, and a smaller one, The Asana, was launched last month.

Last month's sales figure was still higher than the 300-500 unit range in other months when there were no new launches. March's new home sales had also been the highest in eight months.


Of the new private homes sold last month, 64 homes were in the core central region, 361 in the outside central region or suburbs, and 320 in the rest of central region.

Last month's sales were anchored by Sturdee Residences, which was the top selling condominium project with 126 units sold at a median price of $1,620 per sq ft (psf).

Including executive condominiums, developers sold 1,291 new homes last month, 2.8 per cent lower than in April.

Industry observers said they expect moderate activity in the market to continue this month and the next, with the launches of Gem Residences in Toa Payoh, Gramercy Park in Grange Road, and Stars of Kovan in Upper Serangoon.

[reporter2]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...housing-demand

Singapore Home Sales Fall as Mortgage Curbs Cool Housing Demand

Pooja Thakur Mahrotri

May 16, 2016 — 12:50 PM HKT

Developers sold 745 units last month versus 843 in March

Government has said it is reluctant to ease the curbs just yet


Singapore developers sold 12 percent less homes in April, as tighter mortgage curbs cooled demand in Asia’s second-most expensive housing market.

Developers sold 745 units last month, compared with 843 in March, according to data released Monday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Singapore home prices have dropped for 10 quarters, posting the longest losing streak in almost two decades, as property curbs damped demand. An index tracking private residential prices fell 0.7 percent in the three months ended March 31 from the previous quarter, according to data from the URA.

The city-state’s government has signaled it is reluctant to lift curbs it began rolling out in 2009 as low interest rates and demand from foreign buyers raised concerns that the market was overheating. Those curbs have included a cap on debt repayment costs at 60 percent of a borrower’s monthly income, and higher stamp duties on home purchases.

The government wants to avoid a renewed overheating in the market. In his budget speech in February, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said it was “premature” to relax the curbs.

Singapore was ranked the most expensive city in Asia to buy a luxury home after Hong Kong in a 2016 wealth report by estate agents Knight Frank LLP.

[reporter2]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...n/2788626.html

Private home sales down in April despite more units launched

Excluding executive condominiums, property developers sold 745 units last month compared with the 843 units sold in March, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority shows.

Posted 16 May 2016 13:00 Updated 16 May 2016 13:22


SINGAPORE: Sales of new private homes fell 11.6 per cent in April despite more property units being launched.

Excluding executive condominiums (ECs), property developers sold 745 units last month compared with the 843 units sold in March, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed on Monday (May 16). Including ECs, 1,291 units were sold, down from March's 1,328 units.

Excluding ECs, 900 units were launched in April, compared with 682 units the previous month. Including ECs, 2,160 units were launched, compared with 1,216 units in March.

The top selling project in April was the Sturdee Residences in Jalan Besar, followed by EC developments The Visionaire and Parc Life, both in Sembawang.

- CNA/cy

[reporter2]

http://www.straitstimes.com/business...units-in-april

New private home sales fell 11.6% to 745 units in April

May 17, 2016

But demand holds steady for some previously launched projects, say developers

Rennie Whang


Sales of new private homes fell in April from March, but demand continued to be steady for some previously launched projects.

Developers sold 745 new private homes last month, 11.6 per cent down on March, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority data yesterday.

New private home sales had hit an eight-month high in March, with the launches of the 268-unit Cairnhill Nine and the 216-unit The Wisteria.

There were two new launches in April - the 305-unit Sturdee Residences and The Asana, which has 48 apartments.

If transactions from new launches are discounted, sales from previously launched projects rose from 541 in March to 619 last month.

"Demand was more evenly spread out (across different projects), with the top 15 best-selling projects each selling 18 units or more last month," said Mr Wong Xian Yang, OrangeTee senior manager of research and consultancy.

"This could imply a slight improvement in sentiments and a spilling over of pent-up demand into the market."

He added that buyers have gone back into the market as they no longer expect the Government to lift cooling measures any time soon.

April's sales figure was 36.2 per cent lower than in the same month last year when transactions were boosted by the launch of the 920-unit North Park Residences and 797-unit Botanique at Bartley.

Still, compared with a year back, there were more units sold at previously launched projects as well, possibly because developers have trimmed prices.

"Some projects are completing soon - for example, The Trilinq next year - and this attracts some buyers as they are able to move in soon," said Dr Lee Nai Jia, DTZ regional head (SEA) of research.

There are now fewer unsold units in the market, thanks to this steady rate of demand soaking up developers' inventory and the reduction in Government Land Sales since 2014, said Mr Alan Cheong, Savills Singapore research head.

The stock of unsold private homes has fallen from 20,433 in April 2015 to 16,718 in April this year, he noted.

The executive condominium market had a busy April with 1,260 units released for sale - the highest total in 17 months, said Mr Ong Teck Hui, JLL national research director.

Parc Life EC sold 51 of 628 units at a median price of $784 per square foot (psf) while The Visionaire moved 154 of 632 units at a median price of $821 psf.

Several previously launched ECs, including The Amore, The Brownstone, The Terrace and The Vales, also clocked sales of around 40 to 50 units each.

The Terrace EC had a buyer-refer-buyer scheme, where a new and existing buyer would get a $10,000 cash voucher from the developer.

Including ECs, 1,291 new private homes were sold last month, 2.8 per cent lower than in March.

Home buying momentum should continue, especially as more projects are completed and as pricing becomes more attractive, especially for larger units, said Dr Lee of DTZ.

"However, buyers are still cautious amid the uncertainty of the global economy. So buying momentum is likely to continue for projects at choice locations."

Gem Residences in Toa Payoh, Gramercy Park in Grange Road and Stars of Kovan will be launched in the next month or two.

[reporter2]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...sales-down-116

April new private home sales down 11.6%

Pull-back from March's 8-month high sees 745 units sold; existing projects fare better than new launches

By Kalpana Rashiwala

[email protected]

@KalpanaBT

May 17, 2016


AFTER surging to an eight-month high in March, developers' sales of private homes eased last month. What piqued most analysts, however, is the broad-based demand for existing projects rather than the take-up for new launches in April.

Some saw this as a case of the glass being half full. Others were cautious.

Urban Redevelopment Authority data released on Monday showed that developers found buyers for 745 private homes last month, down 11.6 per cent from 843 units in March this year and a 36.2 per cent drop from 1,167 units in April last year. The March figure had sparked talk of an improvement in sentiment.

Developers also sold 546 executive condo (EC) units last month, higher than the 485 units in the previous month and 126 units in the year-ago period. "ECs may be back in vogue, with more owner-occupiers turning to this hybrid housing form for their affordability and more spacious units," said ERA Realty Network's key executive officer Eugene Lim.

Two new EC projects were launched last month - The Visionaire and Parc Life, both in the Sembawang area. Qingjian Realty sold 154 units at The Visionaire at a median price of S$821 psf, while a Frasers Centrepoint-Keong Hong joint venture moved 51 units at Parc Life EC.

In the private housing segment, a consortium led by Sustained Land launched Sturdee Residences in the Jalan Besar locale last month and sold 126 units at a S$1,620 psf median price. JLL national director Ong Teck Hui noted that small units made up a significant proportion of sales in the project.

"For example, about 44 per cent of the sales are attributable to units of 420 sq ft. This helped to lower the absolute sale prices, which ranged from S$672,000 to S$755,400 for these small units."

Highlighting the build-up in demand in projects that were already on the market, OrangeTee.com's analysis showed that developers found buyers for 619 private homes in existing projects in April 2016 - up from 541 units in March 2016 and 418 units in April 2015. In the EC market, developers sold 341 units in existing projects last month - again an improvement from the 193 units in the previous month and 126 units in April last year.

"Demand was more evenly spread in April 2016 compared with the month-on-month and year-on-year periods - and this could indicate a slight pick-up in sentiment," suggested OrangeTee.com's senior manager of research and consultancy Wong Xian Yang.

Among existing private condos on the market, Botanique at Bartley saw 52 units being sold by its developer, UOL, last month at a median price of S$1,297 psf - taking total sales in the project to 713 units. UOL has released 750 of Botanique at Bartley's 797 units.

Among EC projects already on the market, The Vales, The Amore, The Terrace, The Brownstone and Sol Acres saw between 26 units and 51 units each being sold by their respective developers in April 2016.

"The April sales numbers show that underlying demand is still strong for existing projects," said Desmond Sim, the Singapore and South-east Asia head of CBRE Research.

Agreeing, Savills Singapore research head Alan Cheong said: "The market has torque. Demand is chugging along nicely - despite all the headwinds such as the property cooling measures and a weakening economy. Looking objectively at the URA data as well as ground feedback from agents, I would say the glass is half full."

JLL's Mr Ong, however, begged to differ. "While the encouraging sales pick-up in March seems to have led developers of some older projects into launching more units in April, take-up was generally gradual." Although he did not give specific examples, at least half a dozen instances may be found by poring over URA's data.

At Kingsford Waterbay in Upper Serangoon View, which has been on the market for a while, its developer released another 100 units last month; however it managed to sell only 20 units during the same month.

The developer of Hillion Residences in the Bukit Panjang area last month also released 100 new units while selling just five units.

In all, the 745 private homes that developers sold last month in both new and existing projects were less than the total 900 units placed on the market. "This indicates that market confidence is still lacking in spite of the recent uplift in sentiments," JLL's Mr Ong added.

On the supply side, he commented that while the 900 private homes developers launched in April was 32 per cent higher than the previous month, it is a far cry from the 1,568 units placed on the market in April 2015.

"While a distinct improvement in sentiment was seen in March, the April data indicates that market confidence is still lacking as developers remain cautious in their launches while buyers remain selective and price sensitive," he added.

R'ST Research studied 18 projects that have been on the market for some time (half of them were launched in 2015) and compared the median prices their developers achieved last month against the month of the project's launch. Generally prices were fairly unchanged. In a few instances prices rose while there were two cases of significant price reductions - The Trilinq in Clementi (9.9 per cent) and The Panorama in Ang Mo Kio (9.2 per cent).

This month, with the expected launch of Stars of Kovan and Gem Residences, overall developers' sale volumes may continue to remain buoyant, predicts Mr Wong of OrangeTee.com.

Sales bookings are slated to begin on May 21 for Stars of Kovan, and on May 27 for Gem Residences, which is along Lorong 5 Toa Payoh. The indicative pricing for mid-floor units at the 38-storey Gem Residences is around S$1,480 psf, BT understands. ERA Realty Network's key executive officer Eugene Lim noted that also slated for launch later in the year are two EC projects, Northwave along Woodlands Avenue 12/Woodlands View, and Treasure Crest along Anchorvale Crescent.

DTZ's regional head (SEA), research, Lee Nai Jia, said that the release of May and June data will provide a clearer indication of whether there is further weakening of demand.