Quick takes: Hungry Ghost busts euphoria, but it's no phantom demand either

SINGAPORE developers sold 657 private homes in September 2017 - down from 1,246 units in August 2017, on the back of a pullback in new launches amid the Hungry Ghosts Festival. However, the September 2017 figure is higher than the 509 units developers moved in September 2016.

Here are some comments from property consultants:

CBRE Research head, Singapore and South-east Asia, Desmond Sim:

"Despite the euphoria around the reported lift in the residential market, it appears that developers did not take any chances with the Hungry Ghost Month, a traditionally quieter period in the market.The trend of seeking value from previously launched projects continues. Against the absence of new launches, the market continued to display healthy pickup, with more than 650 home sales."

PropNex Realty CEO Ismail Gafoor:

"With the stronger sense of urgency among buyers, we believe that transactions will finish strong in the last quarter as buyers are making a move now to purchase properties sensing that prices are set to increase in the future with the higher land bids and en bloc prices."

Edmund Tie & Company head of research Lee Nai Jia:

"Moving forward, we expect most of the launches to take place next year after Chinese New Year, as sales tend to taper towards the end of the year due to the festivities and school holidays. We anticipate total new sales in 2017 to exceed 10,000 units."