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Private new home sales down 32.4% m-o-m to 660 in March

By Charlene Chin

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

April 16, 2020 11:39 AM SGT

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Developers in Singapore sold 660 private new homes in March, a fall of 32.4% m-o-m and 37.4% y-o-y.

The sales number, which excludes executive condos (ECs), marks the lowest monthly sales in the five years since March 2015 when developers sold 613 units.

Property consultants attribute the sharp decline in sales to muted buyer sentiments due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which has seen the Singapore government roll out “circuit breaker” measures from April 7 to May 4 in response. Sharp fall in sales is likely to continue in April too, they say.

“The timing is especially unfortunate as the months of March to May tend to be bumper months for developer sales. From 2015 to 2019, developer sales during these months usually made up around 26% to 38% of total sales in those years,” comments Wong Xian Yang, associate director, research, Singapore and Southeast Asia, at Cushman & Wakefield.

In 1Q2020, total private new homes sold amounted to 2,256 units, 22.7% higher than the 1,838 units sold in 1Q2019, which was due mainly to the February’s strong sales of 976 units.

Sales at the four condo launches in March were weak. The 378-unit Kopar at Newton sold one unit at $2,385 psf in March. The other prime district launch of 19 Nassim sold one unit at $3,351psf. Meanwhile, 77 East Coast and Tedge, both in the Outside Central Region (OCR), sold one and three units respectively. Kopar at Newton sold 77 units subsequently in April, according to Colliers International.

As Singapore’s community is called to stay home during this period, developers have rolled out virtual showflat tours. However, actual sales have not materialised as local buyers still prefer to see and feel the actual size, layout and finishes of the unit, says Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore, Colliers International.

Buyers are likely to adopt a wait-and-see approach, especially for big-ticket and possibly once-in-a-lifetime decisions such as a property purchase, she adds. “Documenting property purchases and payments during the circuit breaker period also prove challenging.”

In March, developers sold 244 EC units, down from 339 in February. OLA, the only new EC launch in March, sold 170, out of 548 units, or 31%. Another EC, Parc Canberra, sold 43 units in March.

Meanwhile, other top-sellers include Jadescape (76 units), Treasure at Tampines (69 units) and Parc Esta (63 units).

“Despite the current Covid-19 pandemic, rightly priced projects that were previously launched have been a pull-factor in attracting buyers and investors. [This is] a trend that we expect to continue in the aftermath of ‘circuit breaker’ measures,” says Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty.

Property consultants are now forecasting developer sales for the whole of 2020 to range between 6,900 and 8,000 units.

For price trends, recent transactions, other project info, check out these projects' research page: 19 Nassim, Tedge, Kopar at Newton, OLA, Parc Canberra, Jadescape, Treasure at Tampines, Parc Esta

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