TMW Maxwell sees slow sales at launch with 7 units sold, at average S$3,310 psf

TMW MAXWELL sold just seven out of a total of 324 units at its Phase One sales launch with the transacted price ranging between S$1.5 million and S$2.47 million, which works out to a per square foot (psf) range of S$3,143 to S$3,739. 

A SingHaiYi spokesperson told The Business Times that the seven units were sold at an average psf price of S$3,310.

The sales outcome for the mixed-use development project by CEL Development, Singhaiyi Investments and Chuan Investments was much lower than expected by market watchers who had anticipated a take-up rate of at least 20 per cent, going by response to recent launches.

A total of 80 units were offered for sale at the Phase One sales launch, and the remaining units will be released for sale subsequently in phases, the developer said on Sunday (Aug 13). 

Located at the former Maxwell House site, TMW Maxwell comprises a single block with three levels of commercial offerings and a total of 324 apartments. It is also the first of four launches in the downtown central business district (CBD) area to be marketed.

Mark Yip, chief executive at Huttons Asia, said developers are estimated to sell more than 5,000 units in the first eight months of 2023. 

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Tuesday, 12 pm

Property Insights

Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.

Sign Up

“For the months of July and August, the market had never seen so many launches in a short period of time. Within six weeks, eight private residential project launches with more than 3,000 units were offered for sale,” he said. 

He noted that the last time the market saw at least eight launches was in November 2018 when 1,265 units were offered for sale. In terms of units launched, he reckons the highest was in Q1 2021 where 2,629 units were offered for sale across four launches.

Yip said that with more launches in the pipeline, the market is “on track” to sell around 8,000 units – which is higher than 7,099 units in 2022.

“Buyers will likely take some time to digest all the information before making a purchase,” he said. 

Ismail Gafoor, chief executive of PropNex, said developers had rolled out three new projects for sale this weekend. Apart from TMW Maxwell, there was Orchard Sophia in the Core Central Region and The Arden in the Outside Central Region (OCR). 

Both the Orchard Sophia and The Arden had take-up rates of about 23 per cent at their respective launches, Gafoor said. The former sold 18 of its 78 units, while the latter moved 24 units out of 105 units. 

“For the three launches this weekend, their respective sales performance was muted compared to previous projects put on the market; and we think this is largely due to a few factors, including perhaps a bit of choice paralysis setting in,” Gafoor said. 

He noted that “buyers are spoilt for choice in today’s market” with ample options. This, he said, “lessens the urgency to snap up units right away during the launch weekend”. 

Take-up rates have been generally trending at the range of 27 per cent to over 50 per cent recently, Gafoor said. 

“Therefore, we think sales at future new launches could experience some friction owing to the wider availability of options for buyers, particularly if there is ample unsold supply in the vicinity,” he added. 

Gafoor said TMW Maxwell’s location and a larger mix of smaller units would appeal to a niche segment of buyers including investors, couples and small families.

ERA’s chief executive Marcus Chu sounded similar thoughts. “While genuine buying demand remains resilient, we do see increasingly more homebuyers making their rounds to consider various options before returning to pick up a unit in the project of their choice,” he said. 

Chu also said recent transactions of Midtown Bay and Midtown Modern in the city-fringe location ranged from S$3,275 to S$3,841 psf.