eng81157
16-05-12, 08:54
<SPAN id=advenueINTEXT name="advenueINTEXT"><SPAN>SINGAPORE: The number of new home sales in Singapore reached 2,487 in April, surpassing the previous month's total of 2,393 units.
This, analysts said, is second only to the all time high achieved in July 2009 when 2,772 units were sold.
Despite the strong demand, analysts said private property prices are likely to be stable.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said 1,514 homes were sold in the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR), while 867 new private units were sold in the city fringes and 106 were sold in the city.
Katong Regency was the best selling project in April, contributing almost 10 per cent of the 2,487 private units sold in April - the highest in 2012.
Market watchers noted monthly sales in the first four months this year were above the historical average of 1,300 units - raising concerns of more cooling measures.
Chua Yang Liang, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "It seems to be more fueled by the low interest environment and perhaps the progressive payment scheme that is awarded to such new sales. And these are in a way, forward pricing and forward buying to the market. If you look at the genuine demand in market which is backed by actual assets, that demand is actually slower as compared to the new sales."
To counter the sharp increase in housing prices, the government has been ramping up the supply of both public and private housing units.
On Tuesday, the government announced it will be releasing five residential sites for sale this month.
In a statement, URA said this could yield a total of 2,100 housing units, which will form part of some 14,000 residential units to be released under the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the first half of 2012.
The site at Pheng Geck Avenue is launched for sale under the Confirmed List on Tuesday.
Four other residential sites at Tai Thong Crescent, Kim Tian Road, Prince Charles Crescent and Sengkang West Way are made available for application on the Reserve List on Tuesday.
And analysts add that increasing land supply by the government has helped stabilise the property market.
This, analysts said, is second only to the all time high achieved in July 2009 when 2,772 units were sold.
Despite the strong demand, analysts said private property prices are likely to be stable.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said 1,514 homes were sold in the suburbs or Outside Central Region (OCR), while 867 new private units were sold in the city fringes and 106 were sold in the city.
Katong Regency was the best selling project in April, contributing almost 10 per cent of the 2,487 private units sold in April - the highest in 2012.
Market watchers noted monthly sales in the first four months this year were above the historical average of 1,300 units - raising concerns of more cooling measures.
Chua Yang Liang, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "It seems to be more fueled by the low interest environment and perhaps the progressive payment scheme that is awarded to such new sales. And these are in a way, forward pricing and forward buying to the market. If you look at the genuine demand in market which is backed by actual assets, that demand is actually slower as compared to the new sales."
To counter the sharp increase in housing prices, the government has been ramping up the supply of both public and private housing units.
On Tuesday, the government announced it will be releasing five residential sites for sale this month.
In a statement, URA said this could yield a total of 2,100 housing units, which will form part of some 14,000 residential units to be released under the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for the first half of 2012.
The site at Pheng Geck Avenue is launched for sale under the Confirmed List on Tuesday.
Four other residential sites at Tai Thong Crescent, Kim Tian Road, Prince Charles Crescent and Sengkang West Way are made available for application on the Reserve List on Tuesday.
And analysts add that increasing land supply by the government has helped stabilise the property market.