New condo sales jumped 30.6% in Q2

While the number of new project launches more than doubled in Q2 to 16 from six in the previous quarter, the number of units from projects were significantly lower at around 2,700 units compared to the over 4,900 units from Q1.

Singapore saw new condo sales volume rose 30.6 percent quarter-on-quarter to 2,246 units in the second quarter of 2019, while resale volume climbed 18.2 percent to 1,966 units.

This brings total sales volume for Q2 to 4,212 units or the highest since Q3 2018 when the government rolled additional cooling measures, revealed an Edmund Tie report.

The property consultancy noted that while the number of new project launches more than doubled in Q2 to 16 from six in the previous quarter, the number of units from projects were significantly lower at around 2,700 units compared to the over 4,900 units from Q1.

And as developers released projects from collective sale sites acquired during 2017 to mid-2018, prices for these new units reflected the high land prices paid during the said period.

In fact, the proportion of units priced below $1 million plunged to 24 percent of total new sales, while higher-priced units increased. Units costing above $1.5 million, for instance, increased to 35 percent of total new sales in Q2 from 25 percent in Q1.

“These higher prices mirrored the larger average unit size released for sale as well as buyers’ preferences for such units,” said the report.

Edmund Tie, however, noted that the unit price ranges for most resale units “remained relatively unchanged quarter-on-quarter, except for an increase in proportion of resale and larger-sized units priced above $3 million rising from 8.0 to 11.0 percent in Q2”.

It added that the proportion of unit sales to foreigners rose one percentage point to six percent in Q2, even as the proportion of mainland Chinese buyers dropped to a low of 22 percent.

Foreign property buyers preferred units within the core central region (CCR), with a hike in demand for units costing above $4 million in Q2.

Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents, on the other hand, preferred properties within the rest of central region (RCR) and outside central region (OCR) “as these group of buyers tend to be more price sensitive”.

Looking ahead, Edmund Tie revealed that it remains cautiously optimistic of its outlook for the private housing market for H2 2019, with “new sales volume likely to achieve our forecast of 8,000 to 10,000 units in 2019, while prices are largely expected to stay stable with an upside of up to three percent”.

“With new project launches expected to pick up in H2 2019 amid strong headwinds from a slowing local economy, ongoing trade tensions between mainland China and USA, Japan and Korea, and the political situation in Hong Kong, demand for non-landed units from foreign buyers may pick up, as Singapore is viewed as a safe investment haven despite the current property curbs.”

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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg