It was the first weekend after the announcement of the new property rules.
And home buyers are adopting a cautious wait-and-see approach for now.
Of the five showflats MediaCorp visited yesterday, The Greenwich in Seletar Hills was buzzing with activity at noon, even as it entered into the second week of sale of Phase Two.
Over at the showflats of Waterfront Gold on Bedok Reservoir Road, as well as Starlight Suites and Adria in River Valley, it was a quiet affair between 12.45pm and 2pm.
However, these developments are not new launches and have been on the market for a few months, property experts pointed out.
Suntec Chesterton International’s head of research and consultancy Colin Tan said: “The interest is in new launches. If sales are slow, it is because people need to fully understand the measures.”
The next weekend may give a better indication of the market, he said, referring to the anticipated launch of NV Residences, a mass-market project in Pasir Ris by City Developments Limited (CDL).
Mr Steven Tan, executive director of residential at property agency Orange Tee, agreed.
He added: “There’s still a lot of interest in the market.
“Private property buyers who wanted to buy HDB but now can’t – and permanent residents who do not want to give up their overseas property – are turning to the private property market.”
CDL, however, did not confirm that NV Residences would be launched during the Hari Raya weekend.
Over at The Minton showflat on Hougang Avenue 3 at 11.30am yesterday, Mr W L Tan, 34, an assistant manager of an offshore oil company, was one of two families there.
He told MediaCorp that he was currently renting out his executive condominium (EC) unit and had planned to buy an HDB flat to live in.
But with the new measures, he would have to sell his EC, something which he was not prepared to do.
He is now looking to buy a 1,500 square feet condominium unit instead.
Mr W L Tan said: “We hope to buy an apartment to live in or for an investment property. Hopefully, prices will be pushed back with the new measures.”
The Minton’s developer, Kheng Leong, had released two- and three-bedroom units on Saturday. The project was first launched in May.
At noon yesterday, the showflat at The Greenwich was packed with some 50 potential buyers, though a number were there to browse.
Accountant Brian Toh, 36, said: “I was hoping to upgrade from HDB to a condominium. But with the new rules, I’ll have many things to consider before I decide on my purchase.”
The biggest of his concerns was coming up with the 30 per cent downpayment with 10 per cent in cash.
The Greenwich consists of 12 five-storey residential towers, with one- to three-bedroom apartments ranging from 603 square feet to 1,485 square feet. The prices range between S$657,000 and S$1.4 million.
The average price achieved to date is $1,065 per square foot.
All 174 units in Phase One – which make up 55 per cent of the 319-unit development – were sold in a private sale which began on Aug 2.
Over the weekend, eight units in Phase Two were sold, bringing the total number sold to 216.
Source : Today – 6 Sep 2010