Every month, The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) releases a comprehensive database of developer sales for private new homes. Ohmyhome analyses this huge chunk of data and picks out the most relevant points and trends for readers.
Private new home sales continued to slide further, as a total of 834 units (excluding ECs) were transacted for the month of September. This was a 31.4% month-on-month decline as compared to the 1,216 units that were sold in August. On a yearly basis, this is one of the lowest recorded transactions for the month of September since 2017. One reason is due to the low number of non-landed property launches in the month. There were only 210 units (excluding ECs) launched in September, as most launches came from the EC segment.
With the growing number of community cases for Covid-19, the government announced further safe management measures from September 27 to October 24. These tightened measures meant that physical property viewings are only allowed for up to two distinct persons a day.
For example, a showflat viewing appointment only allows 2 persons, including the salesperson. This could be a hindrance to couples who prefer to visit the showflats together. The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), had encouraged salespersons to arrange for virtual viewings first before allowing physical appointments.
Top performing projects for the month
The top selling project for September 2021 was Parc Greenwich – an EC located at Fernvale Lane – and was the month’s only major new launch.
A total of 335 units were sold at a median price of $1,229 psf. This is the third EC launch so far for 2021, with the other 2 EC projects being Parc Central Residences and Provence Residence.
Typically, ECs are priced lower than a non-landed development which serves as an attractive factor for buyers. Parc Greenwich could be one of the last EC projects in the Sengkang area for the time being. Based on the recent Government Land Sales (GLS), the future EC projects in the pipeline would be in the Yishun, Tengah and Tampines areas. Buyers who preferred the Sengkang town might have wanted to seize the opportunity with Parc Greenwich.
In addition, we observed that for the non-landed home segment (condominium & apartment), Normanton Park topped sales with a total of 78 units transacted at a median price of $1,832 psf. Thus far, a total of 67.1% of units have been sold to date since their launch in January.
Coincidentally, another project in the Sengkang area – OLA (EC) – that was launched last year, was the third best selling project in September as well.
One reason why more units have been transacted for the year is due to buyers and investors having more options this year. The number of units launched in the first 9 months of 2021 has already exceeded as compared to the same time period last year.
Breakdown by attributes
The sweet spot price for buyers and investors has been between $1 million to $2 million, encompassing 60.2% of buyers in September.
The top 5 projects under this price range for the month were Normanton Park, Treasure At Tampines, Dairy Farm Residences, Affinity At Serangoon and Bartley Vue. With underlying demand towards projects in the OCR (outside of the central region) segment.
The number of non-landed transactions for foreigners has been on the rise for the past 3 months. We can expect foreign interest to gradually increase as Singapore extends its Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme to more countries. Under this scheme, those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are able to enter Singapore without having to serve a quarantine period. As Singapore starts to reopen its border, this will restore confidence to property buyers and investors as well.
Outlook for new home sales market
Despite the ongoing restrictions, the new private home sales segment has been performing relatively well this year as compared to 2020. Based on the addition of the monthly developer sales, a total of 10,111 private new home sales (excluding ECs) have been transacted for the first 9 months of 2021. This is a 37.0% increase as compared to the same period last year, thanks to a strong performance in Q2 2021. More new launches were also released during this period, projects such as Irwell Hill Residences, One-North Eden and One Bernam.
With the existing restrictions still in place till October 24, we can expect sales to be subdued for October. However, there are still major projects in the supply pipeline, including the 696-unit Canninghill Piers, 230-unit Perfect Ten at Bukit Timah Road, as well as the 132-unit Amber Sea, expected to be released by the end of the year.
Barring any government interventions, we can expect the final private new home sales to be in the range of 10,500-11,500 for the whole year.
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