Sales of new private homes in August up 12% from July, jump 165% year-on-year
Date：2017/09/15
By Grace Leong on September 15, 2017
[The Strait Times] SINGAPORE - The number of new private homes sold in August jumped by 165 per cent from a year ago, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data released on Friday (Sept 15).
Developers sold 1,241 units last month, 773 units or 165 per cent more than the 468 new private homes moved in August last year.
"The improvement of primary sales in August will further reinforce sentiments that the property market is bottoming out," Dr Lee Nai Jia, head of research at Edmund Tie and Company, said.
He noted that the improvement in project sales can be seen across the board, including projects that were launched earlier. Projects such as Symphony Suites and Commonwealth Towers sold 59 and 56 units respectively.
August private home sales were also 11.7 per cent higher than the 1,111 homes sold in July, which was the second straight month when transactions exceeded 1,000.
In the EC segment, 340 new units were transacted last month, when no new EC projects were launched. This was down 65 per cent from the 978 units sold in July. July's strong sales numbers were likely due to the strong performance of certain projects, such as the Hundred Palms Residences EC in Yio Chu Kang Road, which sold all of its 531 units at its launch on July 22.
Combined, there were 1,581 private homes and ECs sold last month, down from the 2,089 units snapped up in July.
Developers launched just 774 homes - excluding executive condos (EC) - in August, 16.6 per cent more than the 602 homes launched in July.
Sales in the suburban areas led the way last month with 767 transactions, followed by 767 in the city fringe and 140 in the core central region.
The top-selling private residential project last month was Chinese developer Qingjian Realty's Le Quest in Bukit Batok, which sold 286 units at a median price of S$1,309 per sq ft.
According to the caveats, 244 units, or about 85.3 per cent of the units purchased were by Singaporeans, Dr Lee noted.
"The project attracted much interest, as it is located within an established estate without much competition. The mall also acts as a key selling point to buyers. Additionally, the project has much potential for capital appreciation in the future, benefiting from the spillovers of Jurong Innovation District and Jurong Gateway's development," he added.
Foreign buyers were mostly attracted to new projects in the central region. For instance, about a third of the purchases of GuocoLand's Martin Modern project came from foreign buyers, Dr Lee said.
Sol Acres in Choa Chu Kang Grove came in second, selling 66 units at a median price of S$812 psf.