Developer sales down 36.2% from year ago

Sales of new private homes down in April. UPDATED: New private home sales in Singapore, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), fell by 11.6 percent to 745 units in April 2016, compared to the 843 units sold in the previous month, according to latest data published by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday (16 May).
Year-on-year, developer sales plunged by 36.2 percent from the 1,167 units sold in April last year, data showed.
This comes despite the number of units launched rising to 900 in April from 682 units in March, noted DTZ.
The property agency stated that the Outside Central Region (OCR) and Core Central Region (CCR) saw weaker sales last month, with the drop in the CCR being attributed to the higher take-up rate for Cairnhill Nine in March. “Notwithstanding, Cairnhill Nine is still doing well, selling 68 units in April, where the bulk are one- and two-bedders,” said Lee Nai Jia, Regional Head (SEA) Research, DTZ.
The best-selling private residential project in the month was Sturdee Residences in the Jalan Besar area, boosting sales in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) to 320 units, said DTZ. Meanwhile, Kingsford Waterbay in Upper Serangoon managed to sell 100 units in April.
Among the EC projects, The Visionaire sold 154 units and Parc Life moved 51 units, despite both projects receiving more e-applications. “Given that the buyers can withdraw their e-applications at no cost, the conversion rate is low,” said Lee.
He explained that the overall slowdown in sales was due to a number of reasons. “Besides the cooling measures, buyers were also affected by the releases of weaker economic data, both globally and locally.
“As the economy becomes more uncertain, and (with) the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) weighing on buyers’ decisions, more buyers prefer to stay put unless they find the project very attractive, in terms of its pricing and location.
“Notwithstanding, the release of May and June’s data will give a better indication on whether there is a further weakening of demand or not,” he added.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

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