April's new private homes sales eased to 1,262

DEVELOPERS in Singapore sold 1,262 new private homes in April, down 2.6 per cent from 1,296 in March.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), sales reached 1,342, easing 2.3 per cent against March. ECs are a private-public housing hybrid, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday.

Monday's official data was similar to consultants' flash estimates published by The Business Times on May 14. It also showed increasing buyers' interest for posh condos.

But with the nation in Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) and restrictions on activities, some consultants think monthly sales for the rest of 2021 may fall below 1,000 units. Preliminary figures showed around 400 sold in the first two weeks of May, said Mark Yip, Huttons Asia chief executive.

If there is a silver lining, slower sales may stave off policy measures to cool the market, some hope.

Private property prices were up 3.3 per cent quarter on quarter (q-o-q) and 6.6 per cent year on year (y-o-y) in Q1 2021 - this marks the fourth straight quarterly improvement, after a soft 1 per cent fall in Q1 2020.

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As in previous months, the majority of April sales came from two new launches.

Four new projects were launched in April, including the 540-unit Irwell Hill Residences, 165-unit One-North Eden, 90-unit Peak Residence and 60-unit Grange 1866, said Christine Sun, OrangeTee & Tie senior vice-president, research & analytics.

Sales were brisk at Irwell Hill Residence which moved almost 60 per cent of its entire project within a month. One-North Eden at the city fringe similarly sold 85.5 per cent of its units last month. The best-selling projects were Irwell Hill Residences, One-North Eden, Normanton Park, Treasure at Tampines, Parc Central Residences, Amber Park, and The Florence Residences.

"The sales performance for the overall market is healthy despite the slight decrease in sales volume considering a higher proportion of pricier homes were sold and no mass market projects were launched," said Ms Sun.

Last month, most of the sales excluding EC were in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) (40.2 per cent), followed by the Core Central Region (CCR) (35.2 per cent) and Outside of Central Region (OCR) (24.6 per cent).

This is the seventh time since the lifting of circuit breaker measures in June 2020 that monthly sales have crossed 1,000 units, noted Lee Sze Teck, Huttons Asia director, research.

"It is also the strongest April sales since 2017," said Mr Lee.

Ms Sun said there was a significant increase in condominiums sold at higher prices in April.

"The proportion of non-landed homes (exclude EC) sold above S$2,000 per square foot leapt from 26.2 per cent in January and 38.8 per cent in February to 55.4 per cent in April this year, indicating stronger consumer confidence and appetite for pricier homes," she said.

Mr Lee said 81.5 per cent of purchases are by Singaporeans with PRs (permanent residents) and foreigners making up 13.5 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.

"We believed there was a shift from the financial markets which has clocked substantial gains on the back of economic recovery to stable asset class such as properties," he said.

On the impact of the restrictions in Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), some consultants expect an easing off in monthly sales to below 1,000 units though they point to buyers' increasing familiarity with virtual tours of show flats.

After eight successful launches (excluding ECs) in the first 4.5 months of 2021, the market is taking a breather and there will be no launches in the second half of May and the whole month of June, said Mr Yip.

"The lowered capacity to one person per 16 square metre and two per group in show flats from May 16 to June 13, 2021 will lengthen the decision making process for buyers and further lower the transaction volume in May and June from April's 1,262 units," said Mr Yip.

Virtual tours of the show flats may help to mitigate this, he said.

"But we are unlikely to revisit the low of 277 units sold during the 'circuit breaker' in April 2020 as preliminary figures showed around 400 sold in the first two weeks of May. The measures during Phase 2 in a way cools the market without a change in policies," he said.

In July, there may be up to five launches - Klimt Cairnhill, Pasir Ris 8, Perfect Ten, The Watergardens at Canberra and Parc Greenwich (EC), said Mr Yip.

"Assuming that all goes well and activities return to Phase 3, sales activities will be back to its normal trajectory of 800 to 1,000 units per month," he said.