New private home sales up 37% from a year ago
Symphony Suites sold 65 units in the month of January, making it the most popular project.
Property developers sold 522 new private homes excluding executive condominiums (ECs) in January 2018, up 21 percent from 431 units in the month before, according to data published by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday (14 February).
Year-on-year, there was a 37 percent increase from the 382 units sold in January 2017.
According to property agency PropNex Realty, last month’s sales tally is the highest for the month of January since 2015. However, it is still lower than the average monthly figure as most developers only plan to launch their projects after Chinese New Year.
“Usually the months of December and January are the slower months with lesser property activities,” said PropNex CEO Ismail Gafoor.
“However, a closer look at the figures comparing with the past few years, it seems to depict that January 2018 is gaining momentum with home buyers and upgraders making their move to purchase existing stocks of private homes available which are rightly priced, before prices are predicted to go up in the later part of this year.”
The top-selling project in the month was the previously launched Symphony Suites in Yishun, which sold 65 units at a median price of $1,085 psf. This was followed by Gem Residences in Toa Payoh, which moved 44 units at a median price of $1,508 psf. Parc Botannia in Sengkang was next with 43 units sold at a median price of $1,265 psf.
Ismail expects to see more transactions after Chinese New Year as developers gear up to launch several new projects including The Tapestry at Tampines Avenue 10, The Enclave @ Holland and possibly Rivercove Residences EC in Sengkang.
“Activities in the market will pick up from March onwards with transactions along the lines of 1,000 units,” he noted.
Ismail predicts that some 12,000 units (excluding ECs) will be sold in 2018, similar to last year.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
