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Record sales on back of all-time high for new property launches

Latest Property Real Estate News - Published on 17/08/2009

Almost defying belief and the most optimistic of market expectations, July 2009 was definitely a record-setting month for private property here in Singapore.
Upon the all-time high of 2,878 launched units, a staggering 2,767 new units were sold in the month. This smashes the record set the previous month in June of 1,825 units by an astounding 52%.
PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail notes that this is not the only indication of the recovering market and increased consumer confidence.
“Over 43% of the transactions took place in the middle- to higher-end tier,” he says, referring to the $1,000–$1,999psf bracket which saw 1,193 transactions for July. Even the higher-end tier itself saw remarkable movement, with Volari at Balmoral Road transacting 79 units alone at a median price of $2,059.
“The large percentage of transactions taking place in the $1,000-$1,999psf bracket,” attributes Mr Ismail, “would have been the result of developers reacting to the consumers’ demand and raising the prices accordingly.”
The lower-range mass market still held strong, however, with the top three most transacted units all going at median prices of below $1,000psf. The Gale at Flora Road, Meadows @ Pierce and Waterfront Key at Bedok Reservoir Road sold 294, 286 and 191 units respectively; these three projects accounted for over a quarter (28%) of the total transactions in July 2009.
“While prices of new launches have been going up,” says Mr Ismail, “developers are still sensitive to the market situation and prices are as yet generally below the 2007 peak. That is why the private property market is now seeing such an amazing recovery.”
The pent-up demand, riding on the market sentiment that “the worst is over”, coupled with the fact that HDB prices are at an all-time high, are also factors he cites in the recovery.
Given the surge in demand, Mr Ismail expects to see at least 18,000 transactions for 2009, beating the previous high of over 14,000 in the previous boom of 2007. However, he cautions against speculative buying and rushing into purchases.
“Property buyers should always buy within their means and remember that they need to maintain a mid- to long-term view when purchasing property,” he says. “While the Deferred Payment and Interest Absorption schemes may make the new launches very attractive, one should always look to the resale market as a form of benchmark and even consider a more reasonably-priced resale unit.”
Mr Ismail also advises property developers not to get carried away by the seeming surge in demand and mark their prices higher. “Doing so,” he explains, “would be akin to throwing cold water on a fire and might actually harm the upward trend.”