Buyers rushing to avoid property curbs led to 55% surge in July home sales

Riverfront Residences was one of the top performing projects in terms of sales last month.

Propelled by buyers rushing to purchase private condos hours before the new property curbs took effect on 6 July, new private home sales in Singapore jumped 55 percent to 1,724 units in July, or the highest level since March 2017, reported Channel NewsAsia.

According to statistics from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), this figure is higher than the 1,112 units sold in the same period last year and is significantly more than the 654 units taken up in June. These figures exclude executive condominiums (ECs).

More: Developers Slash Private Condo Prices By 5-10%

The new private home sales figure last month was “expected due to buyers and property investors rushing to purchase their units before the implementation of the recent cooling measures,” said PropNex Realty CEO Ismail Gafoor.

“As reported, about 1,000 units were sold at top performing projects Riverfront Residences, Park Colonial and Stirling Residences in just one night.”

Remarkably, the private property market remained active despite the new curbs. “What is notable is that post-cooling measures, the sales momentum carried through at these three projects and other developments as well, as reflected by the total units sold (1,724 units) in July,” noted Ismail.

“This can be attributed to the developers adjusting their prices, enticing buyers to commit to their purchase,” he added.

In fact, Colliers International’s research head for Singapore Tricia Song revealed that Riverfront Residences, Park Colonial and Stirling Residences moved an additional 118, 119 and 139 units since 6 July.

“We believe this reflected genuine demand, undeterred by the higher additional buyer’s stamp duty and lowered loan-to-value (LTV) limits.”

Furthermore, over 38.4 percent of the URA caveats submitted last month occurred after the curbs took effect, said OrangeTee’s head of research and consultancy Christine Sun.

“The high percentage of caveats lodged after the implementation of the cooling measures indicate that sales are still relatively quite healthy, driven mostly by first-timers who are less affected by the cooling measures and found the current launch prices quite attractive.”

However, private home sales are expected to slow down for the rest of the year due to buyers and sellers adopting a cautious stance, while realistically priced projects are likely to see better take-up, added JLL national director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui.

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Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg