Tag Archives: Singapore Property Market

Buyers shift to smaller homes

Posted on 11 Jul 2013 | Comments Off on Buyers shift to smaller homes

The latest changes to the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will see home buyers turning to smaller units to offset price hikes. The move is also expected to affect volume demand, particularly coming from buyers with higher incomes, according to DBS.

“Based on the URA statistics, 5MTD monthly primary private home sales ex-ECs have dipped 23 percent year-on-year to 8,353 units,” DBS said.

As data is in line with the bank’s estimates, DBS maintains it current projection – a 20 percent decline in volume demand for 2013, with prices stable at -five percent year-on-year.

“A look at primary transactions also showed that buyers have been moving towards small units to offset price increases. Average unit sizes have shrunk 16 percent since 2010 to an average of 961 sq ft per unit in 5M13 while price psf have continued to trickle up marginally.”

DBS expects the trend towards smaller unit sizes to continue, “particularly after this move by MAS”.

Source – PropertyGuru – 11 Jul 2013

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Posted in Loan / Mortgage / Finance, Property Market / Real Estate

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Analysts say now is the right time to sell homes

Posted on 3 Jul 2013 | Comments Off on Analysts say now is the right time to sell homes

With private home prices hitting an all-time high, analysts are telling investors that they must sell their properties now instead of waiting for prices to increase further.

“At this point in time, URA’s price index shows that prices are at an all-time high, so it is an opportunity for investors to cash out at today’s level rather than to wait for future price appreciation,” said Chia Siew Chuin, Director of Research and Advisory at Colliers International.

In the last few years, home prices have been climbing following the influx of newly completed projects launched prior to the introduction of the seventh and most comprehensive round of cooling measures.

“Based on latest statistics, there are about 60 newly completed projects in the first quarter of this year,” said Nicholas Mak, Executive Director of SLP International Property Consultants. “Some of these projects that are completed this year were launched for sale three years ago before some of the more severe cooling measures were implemented.”

“The owners who bought some of these strata-titled units three years ago can still sell them and they are not subjected to sellers’ stamp duty,” he added.

Newly completed projects appeal to buyers wanting to move into a new home or rent out the unit easily, analysts noted. However, selling a property now could take longer as buyers become more cautious as some are affected by the cooling measures, such as the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD), while others opt to purchase directly from developers who provide attractive discounts.

Source – PropertyGuru – 3 2013

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Posted in Cooling Measures, Property Market / Real Estate

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