Festive lull hits property market, sales up just 3.3%, Latest Business News - The New Paper
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Festive lull hits property market, sales up just 3.3%

This article is more than 12 months old


The festive season lull seems to be enveloping the property market with sales down last month.

Transactions of new private homes inched up just 3.3 per cent to 785 units compared with the 760 moved in October.

It was also a 8.7 per cent drop on November last year, showed Urban Redevelopment Authority data yesterday.

The numbers exclude executive condominium units.

Mr Ong Teck Hui, national director of research and consultancy at JLL, said: "With the onset of the year-end holiday period and the market moving in favour of sellers, there is no hurry for developers to continue launching more units..."

He noted that of the 450 private homes launched last month, only 47 were new releases from previously launched projects. That is a 76.7 per cent drop from October and the lowest monthly figure in the year.

"This has reduced buying options, contributing to moderate sales figures," he added.

Indeed, although the 450 private homes launched is 86 per cent more than in October, it is still 67 per cent down on November last year.

From January to last month, about 11,127 new private homes WERE sold, 39 per cent more than the same period last year.

There were three new condos launched last month.

Rezi 35 in Geylang found buyers for 12 of the 44 units released at a median price of $1,595 per sq ft (psf). The 735-unit Parc Botannia launched 357 homes, with 253 taken up at a median price of $1,287 psf.

This was by far the best-selling project last month.

Link Residence @ Holland, a landed development, placed two of its four units on the market but did not sell either.

Mr Ong said it is "interesting" how developers' pricing and sales strategies have changed from a softening to a recovering market.

For one thing, developers are taking their time to release new units, while daring to command higher prices. Case in point: Parc Botannia in Fernvale, which launched half its units and managed to sell 70 per cent at a median price of $1,287 psf.

Compare this with nearby High Park Residences, which launched 80 per cent of its 1,399 units two years ago and sold nearly all at a median price of $989 psf in the month of launch.


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