Sales of new private homes increased quad-fold in the month of March as compared to February. Latest statistics released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed that developers managed to sell 2,793 new units (excluding executive condominiums) in March.
According to Dennis Wee Group, this figure is the highest monthly sale volume since June 2007, and surpasses the previous high of 2,772 units in July 2009.
This enthusiastic figure is in stark contrast to the 712 new private homes sold in February. Despite the government’s latest round of cooling measures introduced in January this year to curb the Singapore property market, March had seen strong sales volume.
According to analysts, developers’ decisions to hold back property launches in February in lieu of the festive season and the cooling measures had paid off lucratively.
Popular new launches include Bartley Ridge, D’Nest, Hillion Residences, Senette Residence and Urban Vista.
National Director of Research & Consultancy at Jones Lang LaSalle, Ong Teck Hui, said, “By keeping new supply off the market in February, developers have benefited from a strong demand rebound in March as well as the resultant positive impact on the market. It tells us that notwithstanding the latest measures, underlying demand remains healthy.”
Also, according to Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Realty Network, more home buyers are flocking to new launches as developers proffer promotions and discounts to offset the higher additional buyers’ stamp duties. He asserted that the latest March numbers show that well located projects that are competitively priced will continue to sell well.
URA data showed 1,814 units of new private homes located in the suburbs being sold in March, while developers moved 822 units in the fringes. New private homes sold in the city however dropped slightly to 157 units.
CEO of PropNex, Mohd Ismail said, “Moving forward, the private property market is expected to remain subdued as the full impact of the property cooling measures is yet to be seen. Sales volumes are likely to stabilise. Transactional volumes are expected to be around 1,400-1,600 units per month on average for the first half of 2013, as the incentive and discounts are still being offered by developers.
