http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...ay-aprils-high
Published June 16, 2012
New private home sales drop 31.8% in May from April's high
Consultants point to fewer major launches, buyers holding back for lower prices
By Mindy Tan
NEW private home sales in May fell to its lowest since the beginning of this year, breaking developers' three-month long streak of over 2,000 units sold monthly, since February.
This is despite private residential launches picking up 2.4 per cent month-on-month, supported by an 85.4 per cent jump in the rest of central region (RCR).
According to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) figures, developers sold 1,702 private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs) in May, a drop of 31.8 per cent from April's record 2,496 units.
Most consultants concur that the lower sale numbers can be attributed to there being no major launches of commercial-residential projects.
"One reason for the slowdown in launches was that developers were taking time to adapt to the new requirements by the government on more transparency in the disclosure of information in project sales," said Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Realty Network.
Added Alan Cheong, head of research at Savills Singapore: "Riversails, with 920 units, and Leedon Residence, with 381 units, did not launch in May ... Assuming 30-40 per cent total unit sales within the first 2-3 weeks of launch, these two projects, by not having made it to the starting block, could possibly have deprived May of at least 400-520 new home sales."
Specifically, only four new projects debuted in the Outside Central Region (OCR) in May, noted Chia Siew Chuin, director of research & advisory, Colliers International.
The 530-unit Flo Residence in Punggol was the only large project launched in the region, of which a total of 226 units out of the 338 released found buyers. The 60-unit Vibes@Serangoon was fully launched, with 44 units sold; Shiro, a 16-unit landed housing project in Telok Kurau was half sold; and the fully launched 10-unit Shoreline Residences sold four units.
"Despite falling by 21 per cent month-on-month in May, the OCR continued to enjoy strong sales activity, with total sales reaching 1,205 units for the month, the fifth consecutive month where sales have been in excess of 1,000 units and well above the long term monthly average of 612 units since the series started in June 2007," noted Chua Yang Liang, head of research, South-east Asia, at Jones Lang LaSalle.
Notably, developers have stepped up launches in the Core Central Region (CCR) and the Rest of the Central Region (RCR).
In the CCR, the total number of launches increased by 36.7 per cent month-on-month to 309 units. Sales activity fell however, down 30.1 per cent to 135 units.
"The low sales volume in CCR could be attributed to affordability issue since they are more expensive, as well as the impact of recent property measures such as sellers' stamp duty (SSD) and additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) which put off some potential investors and foreign buyers," said Li Hiaw Ho, executive director, CBRE.
"It is possible that CCR sales will see an improvement in H2 2012 since developers are stepping up efforts to dispose of unsold units from completed projects and those that are nearing completion," he added.
In the RCR, 1,005 units were launched, the highest monthly launch total since April 2010. Of this, only 362 units were sold, down 53.6 per cent month-on-month.
"The onset of a price decline for non-landed houses in the RCR, albeit slightly by 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2012 could have prompted potential buyers to hold back for further price corrections, particularly amid the recent renewed concerns over the sovereign debt issues in the Eurozone," said Colliers's Ms Chia
Preliminary data has also shown that resale has picked up significantly in the RCR, said Ong Kah Seng, director at R'ST Research.
"Already, preliminary data showed that 335 resales were transacted in the RCR in May, just 48 units short of that for the full month of April. The number of resale transactions in RCR in May is expected to cross the 400-unit mark, being the highest since the ABSD period," he said.
Said Jones Lang LaSalle's Dr Chua: "Despite the continued strong take-up in the OCR, the weaker performance in the RCR and CCR indicates that the policy risk is reduced as unsold inventory remains in the market. Overall demand remains price elastic - mass market new sales takeup is generally higher, given its relatively lower total price quantum."
New projects that were favoured by buyers include Flo Residences (266 units sold at a median price of $863 psf), Seahill (200 units at $1,383 psf) and Eight Riversuites (192 units at $1,340 psf).
Island-wide, the combined effect of increased launches and slower sales pushed take-up rate down to 69.5 per cent, from 104.4 per cent last month.
The priciest unit sold by a developer in May was Scotts Square, which fetched $4,566 psf, beating last month's most expensive unit at Hilltops by 3.8 per cent, noted SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak.
Colliers International's analysis showed that about 35.1 per cent of the 1,702 private homes sold by developers in May were priced at $1,000psf or less; 49.3 per cent were priced above $1,000psf and at/less than $1,500psf.
On the executive condominium (EC) front, sales ballooned to 355 units, mainly due to the launch of 1 Canberra. The 665-unit EC project was the only one launched in May; 209 units were sold at a median price of $711.
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