New home sales slow in Sept due to Ghost Month
View of private residential properties in Singapore.
Property developers sold 657 private housing units in September, down 47.3 percent from 1,246 units in the previous month, according to data released on Monday (16 October) by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Analysts attributed the big drop in sales to the lack of major new launches during the Ghost Month, which is considered an inauspicious time to buy property.
Property consultancy JLL noted that the Place-8 strata landed development in Paya Lebar was the only new project to hit the market in September, selling one of its eight units at $904 psf.
The best-selling private condo was the previously launched Kingsford Waterbay in Upper Serangoon, which moved 45 units at a median price of $1,289 psf.
Other projects that also saw good sales last month included Symphony Suites (42 units at median price of $1,098 psf) and Principal Garden (40 units at median price of $1,761 psf).
“According to (URA) caveats, the majority of buyers were Singaporeans. Foreigners (non-permanent residents) were also active, buying 14 of the 40 units transacted at Principal Garden,” said Dr Lee Nai Jia, head of research at Edmund Tie & Co.
Meanwhile, 249 executive condominium (EC) units were sold last month, a 27 percent decline from 341 in August. Parc Life in Sembawang was the most popular EC project, selling 48 units at a median price of $795 psf.
Looking ahead, ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim predicts that new private home sales will be boosted with the launch of Parc Botannia in Sengkang next month. Jointly developed by Sing Holdings and Wee Hur, the project will comprise 735 units.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
