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SINGAPORE: Sales of private residential units rose about 32 percent last month, driven by a flood of buyers ahead of possible housing restrictions, analysts said.
According to statistics released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday (February 15), a total of 1,609 private residential units were sold in January, compared with 1,217 the previous month.
A total of 2,600 private residential units were launched in January. The Rest of the Central Region (RCR) led new home sales, with 1,108 units sold, while the Central Central Region (CCR) and the Central Exterior Region (OCR) saw 83 and 418 units sold respectively.
On a year-over-year basis, new home sales in January were up 159.5 percent from 620 units in the same month a year earlier.
Christine Sun, OrangeTee’s head of research and consulting, said the figure was the strongest in January sales since 2013, when 2,028 units were traded.
She attributed the rush to purchases to speculation of possible cooling measures.
READ: Comment: Who is buying private property after last year’s cooling measures?
“Even if no cooling measures were put in place, buyers could be in a better position to ink a unit sooner rather than later as home prices are likely to rise further as the world economy is expected to slow down. get back this year, “said Ms. Sun.
These sales also coincided with some launches last month with a high number of units. The best-selling project was the 1,862-unit Normanton Park, which sold 625 units. This was followed by the 700 units of Parc Central Residences EC which sold 417 units, and The Reef of 429 units at King’s Dock which sold 221 units.
More luxury home launches are expected in the coming months, added Ms. Sun.
“It is key to note that despite the rebound in private new home sales in January, this is not a reflection of growing demand,” said Propnex CEO Ismail Gafoor.
Ismail compared the shopping rush to July 2018, when a similar rush to overcome property cooling measures saw a total of 1,724 new private homes traded.
“What we have observed is that location, attractive product attributes and appropriate prices are the key factors in driving good acceptance rates,” he said.
We believe that most buyers are demanding and are entering the market to buy properties after having carefully considered their options and finances. “
Local buyers accounted for nearly 83 percent of new private home sales transactions last month, and demand from foreign buyers could see a gradual increase this year, said Ms Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex.
This is likely due to several upcoming launches on the CCR, which tend to attract such buyers.
“Overall, we expect the residential real estate market to remain healthy, but downside risks remain, including the resurgence of COVID-19 and uncertain macroeconomic conditions,” Ms Wong said.
“In addition, there is also the risk that the government will adopt new cooling measures, if it judges that home prices are getting ahead of underlying economic fundamentals.”
