Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: New home sales hit 10-month high in May

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    10,829

    Default New home sales hit 10-month high in May

    http://www.straitstimes.com/business...th-high-in-may

    New home sales hit 10-month high in May

    Jun 16, 2016

    Surge from April due to strong demand at two new launches and brisk sales at other projects

    Wong Siew Ying


    Sales of new private homes surged to a 10-month high in May, partly driven by healthy demand at two new launches.

    Developers sold 1,056 new homes last month, up by 41.2 per cent from the 748 units transacted in April, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

    This is the strongest monthly sales performance since 1,655 units were sold last July.

    Analysts said it could indicate that the property market - which has endured a lengthy period of slow sales due to cooling measures introduced - is stabilising and in a "tentative recovery mode".

    "The green shoots (of recovery) could potentially persist if interest rates remain low. Another consideration is whether there would be a general improvement in economic growth in the second half (of the year)," said Ms Alice Tan, Knight Frank Singapore's research head.

    May's sales, which were a big step up from the 643 units sold during the same month a year ago, was spurred by two top-selling new launches. Gem Residences in Toa Payoh sold 312 units at a median price of $1,431 per sq ft (psf), while Stars of Kovan in Upper Serangoon Road moved 76 units at a median price of $1,414 psf.

    Apart from new launches, existing projects also booked brisk sales, a sign that reasonably priced projects near MRT stations continued to be favoured by home buyers.

    The Poiz Residences sold 47 units, 36 units went at Sturdee Residences, and 36 homes were bought at Botanique at Bartley.

    ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim said: "This shows that there is sustained demand for existing projects and buyers are discerning, going for projects which offer them the best value for their money."

    New homes on the city fringe accounted for more than half of last month's sales at 582 units, while 414 new homes in the suburbs were sold, followed by 60 units in the core central region.

    Analysts believe buying interest will remain selective and sales could taper in the next two months.

    "This monthly sales figure is expected to moderate as there are no foreseeable new major launches. This is a result of the noticeable cutback on residential sites in the GLS (government land sales) programme," noted CBRE Research head for Singapore and South-east Asia Desmond Sim.

    All in, 3,274 new units, excluding those in executive condominiums (ECs), were sold in the first five months of the year, more than the 3,189 units transacted from January to May last year. Around 7,760 new private homes were sold last year.

    Although sales of private condo units spiked, demand for new ECs waned last month, with developers selling 332 units - down 39.3 per cent from April. The best-selling EC projects included Bellewaters, The Vales and The Terrace, which found 37 to 40 buyers each, at median prices ranging from $788 to $800 psf.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    10,829

    Default Developers' sales of private homes hit 10-month high in May

    http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...th-high-in-may

    Developers' sales of private homes hit 10-month high in May

    Data does not include sales in delicensed projects; CapLand gets creative with marketing in two projects

    By Kalpana Rashiwala

    [email protected]

    @KalpanaBT

    Jun 16, 2016


    DEVELOPERS' sales of private homes surged to a 10-month high last month on the back of new launches Gem Residences and Stars of Kovan and steady sales in projects released earlier.

    Sales are expected to moderate this month, assuming there are no new launches. However, things should pick up again in July, when developers of at least one private condo and two executive condo (EC) projects are expected to begin sales bookings.

    Attention in the market is also shifting to the impressive sales being chalked up quietly by developers of completed projects that have been delicensed. The sales data of such projects is not captured in the developers' housing sales stats released by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), which covers only projects that still have a housing licence.

    Based on the URA's numbers released on Wednesday, developers last month found buyers for 1,056 private homes, excluding ECs. This was 41.2 per cent more than the 748 units sold in April and 64.2 per cent more than the 643 units sold in May last year.

    Among developers' top selling projects last month was Gem Residences in Toa Payoh, with 312 units sold at a median price of S$1,431 per square foot (psf). Stars of Kovan also fared well; Cheung Kong Property moved 76 units at a S$1,414 psf median price. These two projects accounted for 36.7 per cent of the 1,056 private home units sold by developers and 56.4 per cent of the 1,345 new private homes launched last month, JLL said.

    Property consultants noted the sterling location of these projects; Gem is near Braddell MRT station, and Stars of Kovan, Kovan MRT station.

    ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim observed that investors were the main drivers of sales at the two launches, with the one- and two-bedroom units at Gem Residences the most popular among buyers.

    The URA's data also showed that developers last month continued to move units in projects that were launched earlier, such as The Poiz Residences (47 units at a median price of $1,411 psf), Botanique at Bartley (36 units at $1,292 psf median price) and Sturdee Residences (36 units at median price of $1,636 psf).

    Alan Cheong, research head at Savills Singapore, said: "For June - if there are no large new launches - developers' sales may settle back to between 550 and 600 private homes (excluding ECs)."

    He described this level of monthly sales the "new norm" based on data for the past three months, if there are no new launches; this is higher than the "previous norm" of 350 to 400 units.

    No new EC units were launched in May, but developers found buyers for 332 units in EC projects that were released earlier. This figure was down from the 547 EC units which developers moved in April, but more than the 210-unit sales in May last year.

    The best-selling EC projects last month included Bellewaters, The Vales and The Terrace, each of which found 37 to 40 buyers at median prices of between S$788 psf and S$800 psf, noted JLL's head of research and consultancy Tay Huey Ying.

    She noted that although the 1,056 private homes sold by developers in May was the highest in 10 months, it was in fact the lowest first-half peak in the past three years. The H1 peak in 2014 was 1,488 units in May of that year; the H1 peak last year came in April 2015, at 1,167 units.

    In the first five months of this year, developers sold 3,223 private homes and 1,641 EC units. For the whole of last year, the figures were 7,440 private homes and 2,550 EC units.

    PropNex chief executive Ismail Gafoor expects full-year sales of 7,000 to 8,000 private homes and about 3,000 EC units. "With no changes to the property-cooling measures on the horizon in 2016, transaction volumes will continue to be launch-driven, largely dependent on the price and location of the project."

    OrangeTee's senior manager of research and consultancy Wong Xian Yang that while there are signs of improving sentiment as reflected in the relatively buoyant developer sales in the past three months, buyers remain "price- and quantum-sensitive", given that the cooling measures have remained intact.

    E-applications for two EC projects are slated to begin next week. These are for Hao Yuan's Northwave in Woodlands View and Sim Lian's Treasure Crest in Anchorvale Crescent, where the indicative average price is said to be between S$735 and S$755 psf.

    MCL Land also expects to begin sales of its Lake Grande condo, sited a stone's throw from Jurong Lake and the Lakeside MRT station, in the fourth weekend of July. The average price, net of discounts, is likely to be around S$1,350 psf, said its chief executive Koh Teck Chuan.

    The 17-storey project will have 710 units, in one- to five-bedroom configurations.

    Around August or September, EL Development is planning to soft launch Parc Riviera, a 752-unit condo along West Coast Vale.

    CBRE plotted the 12-month rolling total of the number of private homes sold by developers and found evidence of a stablising market. This measure smoothens out the monthly fluctuations that occur due to new launches or a dearth of new launches, so that a clearer sales pattern emerges.

    CBRE Research's head of Singapore and South-east Asia Desmond Sim said: "A distinct pattern … is that traction from previously-launched projects remains encouraging, despite a longer decision-making process and lengthier transactional procedures.

    "This can be attributed to buyers sitting on the fence who were swayed to projects nearing completion as well as increased incentives offered by developers to both buyers and marketing personnel. Overall, sales from previously launched projects is expected to perform slightly better year on year."

    Market observers said that outside the scope of the sales data on licensed housing projects collated by URA, developers of completed projects that have been delicensed have been achieving impressive sales after rolling out fresh incentives.

    A delicensed project is no longer regulated by the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act and its rules; its developer no longer has to disclose sales updates to URA and has leeway to launch novel marketing schemes for these projects.

    In the Grange/Leonie Hill roads vicinity, the developer of OUE Twin Peaks is said to have sold 33 units in April, another 90 last month and some 17 units so far this month in one of the project's two 231-unit towers. It is now left with just 12 units in the tower.

    In late March, OUE launched a deferred-payment scheme packaged with a 12 per cent discount; it also offers another scheme that gives buyers a longer option-exercise period, packaged with a 15 per cent discount. (OUE has been reported to have received offers from several potential buyers to buy the second tower en-bloc.)

    At another delicensed project, Ardmore Three, developer Wheelock Properties sold 12 units in April and a further 20 units last month after introducing a package comprising a 15 per cent discount and a 15 per cent additional buyer's stamp duty rebate.

    CapitaLand has confirmed its recent introduction of a deferred-payment scheme for most of its remaining units at its delicensed projects, The Interlace and d'Leedon. A CapitaLand spokeswoman said the "stay-then-pay" schemeis aimed at helping owner-occupier buyers manage their finances. All buyers, regardless of whether they take up this offer, are entitled to a 15 per cent discount off the list price.

Similar Threads

  1. US pending home sales jump to 7-month high
    By New Reporter in forum Coffeeshop Talk
    Replies: 0
    -: 01-10-21, 11:19
  2. August new home sales surge to 11-month high on pent-up demand
    By New Reporter in forum Singapore Private Condominium Property Discussion and News
    Replies: 0
    -: 12-09-20, 10:27
  3. Rush to beat cooling measures sends developers' sales to 16-month high
    By reporter2 in forum Singapore Private Condominium Property Discussion and News
    Replies: 0
    -: 13-09-18, 23:17
  4. New launches drive sales of new homes to 15-month high
    By reporter2 in forum Singapore Private Condominium Property Discussion and News
    Replies: 0
    -: 23-11-16, 20:55
  5. UPDATE 1-Singapore May home sales hit 10-month high, but outlook cloudy
    By reporter2 in forum Singapore Private Condominium Property Discussion and News
    Replies: 0
    -: 19-06-16, 23:42

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •