Brokers' take

Singapore property

DBS Group Research, April 16

March 2015 private home sales rebounded 55 per cent over February 2015 to 613 units, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), and sales are largely attributable to upbeat performance at two recently launched large-scale projects - Kingsford Waterbay at Serangoon View at a median price of S$1,111 per square foot (psf) and Sims Urban Oasis (GuocoLand) which moved a further 107 units averaging S$1,400 psf. These two projects accounted for 42 per cent of total units sold in the month. Year-to-date, 1,367 private property units were sold, representing a year-on-year drop of close to 24 per cent. Looking ahead, April 2015 numbers could remain strong on the back of successful property launches - Northpoint Residences by Frasers Centrepoint and Botanique @ Bartley by UOL Group. We expect the overall investment demand to remain selective amid ongoing property cooling measures and the Total Debt Servicing Ratio. We continue to like property developers with diversified earnings stream which offer strong earnings visibility; strong balance sheets, implying ample capital to deploy opportunistically, and catalysts from asset recycling activities. Picks are CapitaLand, Frasers Centrepoint and UOL.