SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - In February, 645 private new homes were sold, 60.5% lower m-o-m and 33.9% y-o-y. This was due to the lower number of project launches during the month, which saw only a total of 167 units being put up for sale, a record low since December 2018 when 101 units were placed on the market.
The number of new launch units was 93.6% lower than the 2,600 units placed on the market in January and 82.1% lower y-o-y, notes Ong Teck Hui, senior director of research & consultancy at JLL. There was only one new launch in February — the 14-unit J@63, which sold one 1,335 sq ft unit at $1,406 psf.
“Another reason for the muted sales is that many of the mega projects, which have contributed substantially to home sales last year, have progressively pared down their unsold stock. For instance, the top three bestsellers in 2020: Treasure At Tampines, Parc Clematis, and Jadescape are now about 80%, 75%, and 94% sold, respectively,” says Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
Judging by a “fairly buoyant” resale market, JLL’s Ong says that the low new home sales volume in February is not indicative of slowing demand from buyers, as there were 1,039 resale private homes being transacted based on URA Realis data, which is just 16.6% lower than in January. “It is also higher than the average monthly resale volume of 894 units in 2020,” he adds.
Nicholas Mak, head of research at ERA Realty Network, also believes that “veiled warnings” from the government about “possible cooling measures” have not led to lower sales. Rather, the sales figure corresponded to the fewer units being launched.
“In February, there were almost four units sold to every unit launched, suggesting that buyer interest remains in existing launches,” says Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore. He adds that despite the general absence of new launches, developer sales in the first two months of 2021 at 2,277 units is 42.7% higher than in the same period last year, before the Covid-19 outbreak.
After moving 645 units in January, Normanton Park sold 61 units at a median price of $1,800 psf in February(Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The best-selling project in February was The Reef at King’s Dock. Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore at Colliers, notes that the project sold 102 out of 429 units at a median price of $2,226 psf in February, after moving 221 units at a median price of $2,276 psf in January.
The second best-selling project was Normanton Park. It moved 61 units at a median price of $1,800 psf in February, after topping the charts in January when 645 units sold at a median price of $1,762 psf. Normanton Park comprises 1,840 units.
In terms of executive condominiums, Parc Central Residences was the best-selling project, moving 78 units at a median price of $1,159 psf. “Targeting HDB upgraders and young families, units sold at Parc Central in February are mostly three bedders with an average size of 1,104 sqft and an average price quantum of $1.28 million per unit,” says Song.
The Rest of Central Region (RCR) led home sales in February, contributing 325 units to monthly sales. In the RCR, PropNex’s Wong notes that Normanton Park is 36.9% sold and The Reef at King's Dock is 75.1% sold since both projects were launched in January.
At the same time, Song also notes that the proportion of units sold in the CCR increased from 5.1% in January to 9% in February. “Momentum in the high-end segment appeared steady. The Avenir moved another seven units at a median price of $3,073 psf after moving six units at a median price of $3,007 psf in January,” Song says. “The priciest unit based on psf pricing came from one unit at Boulevard 88, which sold at $3,735 psf,” she adds.
She also observes that median prices at Midtown Bay and The M have crossed $3,000 psf, riding on the rejuvenation of the Beach Road vicinity.
Goh Jia Ling, manager of research (Southeast Asia) at CBRE, notes that developers are capitalising on “overall upswing in prices”, as evidenced by developers increasing prices for older launches.
JLL’s Ong concurs, adding that developers seemed to be in no hurry to launch more units as “the market is on their side with prices trending upwards”. He expects launch activities to resume and new private home sales momentum to pick up in the coming months.
Sales in March will be higher than February with the launch of 120-unit The Atelier and 558-unit Midtown Modern, says Lee Sze Teck, director of research at Huttons Asia. Other developments in the pipeline include One Bernam in the CBD, comprising 350 units, and Perfect Ten at Bukit Timah Road, comprising 230 units. An EC project at Canberra Link, Provence Residences, will also launch in the coming months, offering 413 units.
With the launch of The Atelier and Midtown Modern in the CCR, PropNex’s Wong believes that they would lift the sales tally in this sub-market, which she believes has held its own in spite of the pandemic and economic downturn last year, continuing last year’s strong performance. “In 2020, developers sold 1,260 new private homes in the CCR — which is the sub-market’s strongest annual sales performance in recent years,” she adds.
PropNex Gafoor says, “As at the end of 4Q2020, there were 24,296 unsold units (excluding ECs) in the market. In view of the dwindling unsold inventory and the limited supply of larger new launches this year, we expect total new private home sales to be more subdued in 2021, potentially at 8,000 to 9,000 units — down from 9,982 units sold in 2020.”
Colliers’ Song believes that given the gradual roll-out of the vaccines and the recovery of the global economy, momentum in the housing market remains positive. Pointing to the fact that 173 units have transacted in the first week of March, she believes that developer sales will perform better this month.
Top 10 Selling Projects in February 2021 (including EC)
Source: Colliers International, URA. CCR: Core Central Region; RCR: Rest of Central Region; OCR: Outside Central Region. EC: Executive Condominium
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