Singapore developers sold over 40% fewer homes in June than in May

SUBDUED sales in new residential launches in the month of June resulted in over 40 per cent fewer homes being sold by developers than a month ago.

A survey by the Urban Redevelopment Authority shows that developers sold 654 private residential units in June, 41.7 per cent lower than a month ago and 20.2 per cent below a year ago. More than half of the sales took place in the suburban area or Outside Central Region.

Including another 52 executive condominiums (ECs) sold last month, developers' total sales tally for June was 706 units - representing a 43.9 per cent decline from a month ago and a 33.6 per cent drop from a year ago. 

Based on URA's June preliminary estimates, developers sold a total of 4,090 private homes and 1,046 EC units in the first half of this year. This is less than the 6,039 private homes and 2,026 EC units sold in the first half of 2017.

But while the month-on-month decline in developers' sales for June was in tandem with a 31.5 per cent fall in the number of new units launched in June, the year-on-year fall came in the face of a 4.6 times surge in the number of units launched in June compared to a year ago. No EC unit was launched in a month-ago or year-ago period.

Among the five launches last month, the Oxley-led consortium moved 107 units at Affinity at Serangoon at a median price of S$1,584 per square foot (psf) and MCL Land sold 121 units at Margaret Ville at a median S$1,873 psf. Keppel Land and Wing Tai Holdings sold 64 units at The Garden Residences at a median S$1,662 psf in June. Two other smaller project launches - One Draycott by Champsworth Development (unit of SDB International) and 33 Residences by Macly Group - sold one unit at S$2,599 psf and six units at a median S$1,629 psf in June.

Desmond Sim, who heads research at CBRE for Singapore and South-east Asia, noted that sales at Affinity at Serangoon and The Garden Residences were subdued because of several reasons, including the proximity between the two projects, lack of connectivity to the MRT, as well as increased options available with impending new launches in the area.

"In light of the introduction of new cooling measures which led to last-minute transactions, July sales are expected to surpass June sales and this will be the calm before the storm," he said, adding that sales momentum for new sales for 2018 would still ease to 8,000-10,000 units.

Lee Sze Teck, head of research at Huttons Asia, noted that there were buyers who were holding back in June so that they could compare projects in the same district before making a decision, while the World Cup was another distraction.

Developers' July sales figures are expected to be bolstered by the flurry of last minute sales on July 5 at Riverfront Residences, Park Colonial and Stirling Residences where over 1,000 units were snapped up in one night to beat the deadline for the new government cooling measures.

"Double digit sales continued to be registered at these three projects after 5 July, a testament to the adequate liquidity and fundamentally healthy demand in the market," Mr Lee said.

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