Sales of new private homes rose to the highest in nine months in May thanks to a deluge of new launches by developers, with suburban projects proving to be the most popular.
Developers sold 1,121 private homes in May, an increase of 53.1 per cent from April and 7.9 per cent from the same month last year, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday (Jun 18).
May’s figure is also the highest since August last year, when 1,246 new private homes were sold.
Including ECs, 1,257 units were sold in May, a drop from the 1,328 sold the previous month and 1,416 homes sold in May last year.
“The buying momentum is healthy because developers managed to sell more units in May and the number of units sold is greater than the number of units launched,” said ZACD Group executive director Nicholas Mak.
“There has been a gradual increase in the number of units launched by developers over the last few months … The good thing is that the market is still able to absorb the number of units launched,” Mr Mak said.
In May, developers launched 1,060 units, up 60 per cent from April and 186 per cent from May last year.
The Outside Central Region proved most popular with both buyers and developers last month, with 834 units launched and 792 homes sold.
This compares with the 56 and 170 units launched in the Core Central Region and Rest of Central Region, respectively.
In terms of sales, 43 units were sold in the Core Central Region and 286 homes in the Rest of Central Region.
Mr Mak said that with several more projects lined up to hit the market in the coming months, developers will be looking to pace out the timing of the launches.
“Looking ahead there will be several more projects that are lined up for launch. One of the important factors is to avoid head-on competition with their fellow developers; what they will do is likely pace out the launches,” Mr Mak said.
Mr Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Realty Network, noted that sales of new private homes could dip in June before rising again.
“Developer sales numbers will likely dip in June, as it the school holidays and buying demand is seasonally weaker,” Mr Lim said.
“Post June, we are expecting buying demand to increase again as several major developments are set to be launched,” he added.
These upcoming launches include Marina One Residences (Tower 23), Riverfront Residences in Hougang, Park Colonial in Upper Serangoon Road and Stirling Residences in Stirling Road.
Source: Channel NewsAsia – 18 Jun 2018