17-02-2012, 12:10 AM
Business Times - 16 Feb 2012
Private-home buyers return in force in January
Developers sell 1,872 units, almost treble the 632 units in December
By MICHELLE TAN
(SINGAPORE) A sharp pick-up in January's private new home sales, coming on the heels of a dismal December, has thrown a tough bone at property naysayers to chew on.
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) figures show that developers sold 1,872 private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs) in January, almost treble the 632 units in December last year and 55 per cent more than the year-earlier period.
ECs - a hybrid of public and private housing - also saw brisker sales in January, with 205 units sold, more than five times the 38 units sold in December 2011. Consequently, developers' total sales (including ECs) rose to 2,077 units in January from 670 in December.
Said Alan Cheong, head of research at Savills Singapore: 'The January sales numbers very importantly highlight the point that perceptions of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) having an adverse impact on the general market were completely untrue. On the contrary, by including or excluding ECs, sales numbers were higher than any of the months in 2011, (last) matched only by those recorded in November 2010.'
Most property watchers were taken by surprise by the spike as sales numbers typically soften in the month Chinese New Year falls on.
Top-selling projects for the month included Watertown at Punggol (770 units sold at $1,169 psf median price), The Hillier in Hillview (387 units sold at $1,289 psf median price), and Parc Rosewood (198 units at $951 psf median price). For ECs, The Rainforest at Choa Chu Kang was the most popular development, with 172 units sold at a median price of $753 psf.
Commenting on the bullish market sentiment, key executive officer at ERA Realty Network, Eugene Lim, said: 'Buyers of these projects are usually first-timers or second home local investors who are not affected by ABSD measures.'
In particular, Mr Lim pointed out that two of the top-sellers, Watertown and The Hillier, were 'well-located mixed-used projects' that benefited from being located near retail facilities and MRT stations.
Even after stripping out these two large and well-received developments from January's numbers, mass-market demand remained healthy, said Chua Yang Liang of Jones Lang LaSalle.
The priciest unit sold by a developer in January was an apartment at The Scotts Tower, which fetched $3,567 psf.
Homes in the outside core region (OCR) continued to dominate both supply and sales. Developers released 1,975 OCR units in January, 1,221 units more than in December. Sales were buoyant, with 1,761 units sold in January compared with 489 in the previous month.
However, numbers were much weaker in the other two regions, in particular, the CCR (core central region), where there were no launches during the month.
Said SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak: 'The current low demand for prime properties is partly due to the ABSD. Only 17 units were transacted in the CCR, the lowest sales since January 2009, when the previous financial crisis forced investors to retreat from the market.'
Some consultants have noticed a gradual trending up of prices of projects launched in the lower-tier of the private housing segment over a three-month period.
Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at Colliers International, noted that the proportion of units sold in the '$1,000 psf and under' price band had declined from 36.9 per cent in November 2011 to 24.3 per cent in January 2012, while the proportion of units sold in the 'more than $1,000 psf to $1,500 psf' price band had increased from 51.9 per cent in November 2011 to 71.4 per cent in January.
This is because developers are gradually pushing prices higher to capitalise on the stronger sales momentum in the lower-tier, mass market, she said.
And the strong start to 2012 is likely to encourage developers to continue to roll out new launches bundled with attractive discounts to nullify the impact of the ABSD, consultants say.
Upcoming launches include Frasers Centrepoint's 99-year leasehold Palm Isles, Bartley Residences and Far East's Seahill, the latter of which will offer a mix of one to three-bedders, SOHO apartments and townhouses at a starting price of about $1,250 psf.
Private-home buyers return in force in January
Developers sell 1,872 units, almost treble the 632 units in December
By MICHELLE TAN
(SINGAPORE) A sharp pick-up in January's private new home sales, coming on the heels of a dismal December, has thrown a tough bone at property naysayers to chew on.
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) figures show that developers sold 1,872 private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs) in January, almost treble the 632 units in December last year and 55 per cent more than the year-earlier period.
ECs - a hybrid of public and private housing - also saw brisker sales in January, with 205 units sold, more than five times the 38 units sold in December 2011. Consequently, developers' total sales (including ECs) rose to 2,077 units in January from 670 in December.
Said Alan Cheong, head of research at Savills Singapore: 'The January sales numbers very importantly highlight the point that perceptions of the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) having an adverse impact on the general market were completely untrue. On the contrary, by including or excluding ECs, sales numbers were higher than any of the months in 2011, (last) matched only by those recorded in November 2010.'
Most property watchers were taken by surprise by the spike as sales numbers typically soften in the month Chinese New Year falls on.
Top-selling projects for the month included Watertown at Punggol (770 units sold at $1,169 psf median price), The Hillier in Hillview (387 units sold at $1,289 psf median price), and Parc Rosewood (198 units at $951 psf median price). For ECs, The Rainforest at Choa Chu Kang was the most popular development, with 172 units sold at a median price of $753 psf.
Commenting on the bullish market sentiment, key executive officer at ERA Realty Network, Eugene Lim, said: 'Buyers of these projects are usually first-timers or second home local investors who are not affected by ABSD measures.'
In particular, Mr Lim pointed out that two of the top-sellers, Watertown and The Hillier, were 'well-located mixed-used projects' that benefited from being located near retail facilities and MRT stations.
Even after stripping out these two large and well-received developments from January's numbers, mass-market demand remained healthy, said Chua Yang Liang of Jones Lang LaSalle.
The priciest unit sold by a developer in January was an apartment at The Scotts Tower, which fetched $3,567 psf.
Homes in the outside core region (OCR) continued to dominate both supply and sales. Developers released 1,975 OCR units in January, 1,221 units more than in December. Sales were buoyant, with 1,761 units sold in January compared with 489 in the previous month.
However, numbers were much weaker in the other two regions, in particular, the CCR (core central region), where there were no launches during the month.
Said SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak: 'The current low demand for prime properties is partly due to the ABSD. Only 17 units were transacted in the CCR, the lowest sales since January 2009, when the previous financial crisis forced investors to retreat from the market.'
Some consultants have noticed a gradual trending up of prices of projects launched in the lower-tier of the private housing segment over a three-month period.
Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at Colliers International, noted that the proportion of units sold in the '$1,000 psf and under' price band had declined from 36.9 per cent in November 2011 to 24.3 per cent in January 2012, while the proportion of units sold in the 'more than $1,000 psf to $1,500 psf' price band had increased from 51.9 per cent in November 2011 to 71.4 per cent in January.
This is because developers are gradually pushing prices higher to capitalise on the stronger sales momentum in the lower-tier, mass market, she said.
And the strong start to 2012 is likely to encourage developers to continue to roll out new launches bundled with attractive discounts to nullify the impact of the ABSD, consultants say.
Upcoming launches include Frasers Centrepoint's 99-year leasehold Palm Isles, Bartley Residences and Far East's Seahill, the latter of which will offer a mix of one to three-bedders, SOHO apartments and townhouses at a starting price of about $1,250 psf.