New private home sales hit one-year high in July

http://www.straitstimes.com/business...r-high-in-july

New private home sales hit one-year high in July

Aug 16, 2016

New Jurong project helps boost numbers to more than double that of June

Wong Siew Ying


Sales of new private homes hit a one-year high last month and more than doubled June's sales, boosted in part by a new project in Jurong.

Developers sold 1,091 new units - excluding those in executive condominiums (ECs) - in July, up 103.5 per cent from the 536 moved in June, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said yesterday.

This was the highest number of new homes sales since the 1,655 units shifted in July last year.

Despite the strong sales numbers last month, they were still down 34 per cent on July last year, which saw sales bolstered by the 1,169 units moved at High Park Residences.

Mr Ong Teck Hui, national director of research and consultancy at JLL, noted: "The market outlook which turned positive in the earlier part of the year seems to be carrying through past mid-year."

Analysts said yesterday that the latest figures could indicate that the primary market "has bottomed".

Demand for new homes has been lacklustre in recent years owing to a slew of property cooling measures.

"The rise in sales can be attributed to improving sentiments as buyers consider putting their capital to use in view of a potentially prolonged low-interest-rate environment," OrangeTee's head of research and consultancy Wong Xian Yang told The Straits Times.

Mr Wong added that there had been no substantial drop in prices across projects last month based on transaction data.

July's sales were driven mainly by the red-hot demand for MCL Land's Lake Grande in Jurong West, which accounted for 42.5 per cent of sales. It was the star performer last month, selling 464 units - out of the 500 units placed for sale - at a median price of $1,368 psf.

Suburban areas led sales with 825 new private homes sold in July, followed by the city fringe with 213 homes sold, while 53 units were moved in the core central region.

URA's figures showed that 624 new private residential units were launched last month, well up on the 234 apartments placed for sale in June.

CBRE Research said July's sales indicated "continued traction" for unsold units from existing project launches, as the cut-back in supply of land sites helped to clear the inventory.

"Should this current momentum continue, (we) will not be surprised to see some reserve sites being triggered before the end of the year," added Mr Desmond Sim, head of CBRE Research for Singapore and South-east Asia.

Sales of new EC units last month also rose sharply, tripling to 830 units from the 232 units sold in June. It was also the highest monthly sale of EC units since November 2014, JLL said.

Including EC units, a total of 1,921 new homes were transacted in July.

Two new EC projects hit the market last month offering a total of 862 units, after an absence of new launches in May and June.

One of the new launches - Treasure Crest in Anchorvale Crescent - came up top in the EC segment, with 398 units sold at a median price of $751 psf.

Despite the July sales surge, analysts do not expect the feat to be repeated this month in view of the slower sales during the traditional Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival and the weaker economic outlook.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...from-june-lull

July's new home sales recover from June lull

Developers sell 1,091 units, more than double the 536 units sold in June, amid a surge in launches: URA data

By Lee Meixian

[email protected]

@LeeMeixianBT

Aug 16, 2016


THE private housing market regained some momentum last month, as developers sold 1,091 private homes (excluding executive condominiums), more than double the 536 units sold in June.

Consultants attribute the marked increase to the pick-up after the mid-year lull. June is when buyers tend to hold off buying and developers hold back new launches due to the school holidays. But consultants say July's performance also points to some regained confidence among developers to launch new projects.

Not all, though. CapitaLand was cautious with its landed Victoria Park Villas project, launching just six out of its 109 units in its initial launch, although it sold all six units at a strong S$4.3 million to S$4.9 million each. This indicates keen interest in landed homes which are limited in supply, said Ong Teck Hui, national director of research & consultancy at JLL.

The boost in July's sales also has to do with the larger launch volume of 624 units in July, more than twice June's 234 launched units.

Mohamed Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty, said that the primary market remains strongly launch-driven, evident in the robust sales in March and May this year, which were respectively driven by the launches of Cairnhill Nine and Gem Residences.

Commenting on the figures released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday, Mr Ong noted that the 1,091 private homes sold in July was the highest monthly sales in 2016. "This suggests that the market outlook, which turned positive in the earlier part of the year, seems to be carrying through past mid-year."

Mr Mohamed Ismail added: "The surge in primary home sales in July was largely in response to the sensitive pricing of the only major private property launch in the month, Lake Grande, which reignited buying interest and accounted for more than 40 per cent of the total number of units sold."

MCL Land's Lake Grande was the best-selling private residential projects in July, moving 464 units out of the 500 launched at a median price of S$1,368 per square foot (psf). This represents a 93 per cent take-up rate, and is testament to the growing appeal of the Jurong Lake District vicinity.

Mr Mohamed Ismail added that some buyers could also have hastened their purchase decisions in July to avoid buying in the inauspicious Hungry Ghost Month in August.

Including ECs, a private-public housing hybrid, some 1,486 units were launched (versus 234 in June), and 1,921 sold (versus 768 in June).

The EC market was active in July, with the launch of Sim Lian's Treasure Crest and Hao Yuan Investment's Northwave, as well as steady sales at several launched EC projects that continued to be actively marketed.

In all, 830 EC units were sold in July. The best-selling EC projects in July were Treasure Crest, Bellewaters and Sol Acres (see table).

The total number of new private homes sold in the first seven months of 2016 stands at close to 5,000 units, 6 per cent lower than the same period last year. The drop is largely due to the colossal launch of most of the units at the 1,390-unit High Park Residences and its strong take-up last year.

OrangeTee noted that the primary market is showing signs of stabilisation, with July's new home prices staying resilient, without any substantial drop in prices across projects. Its analysis also showed that sales from previously launched projects rose about 22 per cent in the January-July period, compared to a year ago.

"This lends strength to the proposition that the primary market may have bottomed and is in recovery," said research and consultancy head Wong Xian Yang. "But it is hard to envisage a V-shaped recovery given that cooling measures remain in place and the economy remains weak. Barring an unexpected deterioration in the global economy, the primary market is likely to stabilise around current levels."

Consultants generally expect sales performance to hover at about 500 to 700 units every month for the rest of the year, culminating in a total sales volume of 7,000 to 8,000 units for the whole year, excluding ECs.

August should be quiet amid the Hungry Ghost Month and lack of launches, they say. Two major projects, Parc Riviera at West Coast Vale by EL Development, and the Forest Woods in Serangoon by City Developments, are expected to launch in September.