Ravi Chandran
Sales and property launches volume fall sharply
Table of Contents
In October, developers sold 487 private residential units, a fall of 47.7% from the 932 units sold in September and also 36% lower y-o-y. The lower sales during the month were partly constrained by the sharp decline in property launches of only 202 units, which is nearly six times less than those in September.
In the first ten months, an estimated 7,446 new private homes were sold, about 21% less than the same period last year. On the other hand, the estimated number of property launches, being 7,314 units released from January to October is about 36% higher than the same period last year.
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Only one new project was launched
As for new property launches, only one new project was released in October – 10 Evelyn, which is in prime district 11. The 56-unit project sold two units at a median price of $2,478 psf.
Brisk sales at top selling private residential projects
| Project | Sold (units) | Median price (psf) |
| Affinity at Serangoon | 81 | $1,499 |
| Stirling Residences | 75 | $1,738 |
| Riverfront Residences | 55 | $1,327 |
| Park Colonial | 52 | $1,754 |
| The Tapestry | 26 | $1,375 |
Source: URA
New executive condominiums (EC) fetch optimistic prices
23 new ECs were sold by developers in October, exhausting unsold supply and fetching optimistic prices
| Project | Sold (units) | Median price (psf) |
| Rivercove Residences | 15 | $1,009 |
| Northwave | 5 | $869 |
| Parc Life | 2 | $991 |
| Sol Acres | 1 | $963 |
Source: URA
Mr Ong Teck Hui, Senior Director of Research & Consultancy at JLL, commenting on sales and property launches said:
“The subdued new private home market in October is in stark contrast to its upbeat performance in September. New sales almost halved while launches were only about a sixth, compared to the previous month. There was an expectation for the encouraging performance in September to carry through into October to capitalise on positive market sentiments.
The sharp slowdown in October coincided with the announcement of the new URA guidelines which would moderate the reduction in home sizes and possibly reduce the number of shoebox units due to a revision in the basis for calculating the maximum permissible number of dwelling units for a non-landed residential development outside the Central Area. Previously, the maximum number of dwelling units was derived by dividing the proposed Gross Floor Area (GFA) by 70 sqm, but from 17 January 2019, it will be derived by dividing the GFA by 85 sqm.
As the revised guidelines left a sense of uncertainty in the market, it could have impacted on launches as sellers re-assessed the situation. However, the lull in October could be short-lived as launches have resumed in November including projects such as Whistler Grand, Arena Residences, Belgravia Green, The Woodleigh Residences and Parc Esta.
EC sales in October saw prices of remaining unsold units being pushed up further by developers to capitalise on the shortage of supply. The median price of $991 psf at Parc Life is 26.4% higher than the median price of $784 psf at launch in April 2016. Sol Acres sold one unit at $963 psf, which was 22.4% above the median price of $787 psf during its launch in August 2015. Rivercove Residences’ median price of $1,009 psf was 4% higher than the $970 psf at launch six months ago.
It is a sellers’ market for new ECs and the shortage of supply means new projects would be launched at robust prices, taking reference from the October median price of above $1,000 psf seen at Rivercove Residences, subject to adjustments for location.”
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Commenting on the Urban Redevelopment Authority released statistics on the residential, office and retail property market for 3Q18, JLL noted in October that in “3Q18, developers launched 3,754 private residential units, 54% more than in 2Q18. They sold 3,012 units during the quarter, 27% more than in 2Q18. The strong launch and sales volume was due to the hasty launches of Stirling Residences, Park Colonial and Riverfront Residences on the night of 5 July 2018, to beat the cooling measures taking effect the next day. The sales in these three projects on 5 July alone accounted for 29% of primary market sales in 3Q18.”
It added that property launches of private homes from 1Q18 to 3Q18 totalled 7,112 units of which 6,959 were sold, and that the number of units launched in the first three quarters has already surpassed the 6,020 units launched in 2017 which is indicative of developers’ need to continue with launches in view of the large potential launch pipeline.
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