Tag Archives: Singapore Property Market

8,000 new private homes estimated in H2

Property developers will launch some 8,000 new private homes over the next six months, according to analysts’ estimates.

While there are small risks of oversupply in the horizon, market watchers told Channel NewsAsia that private property prices should remain stable this year.

A consortium comprising Hong Leong Group, City Developments and TID Residential won the tender for the site at Mount Vernon in January this year which is expected to yield more than 700 private home units.

It is one of the 15 residential land parcels that were successfully tendered out by the government last year which have yet to be launched.

Ooi Yi Tung, director of Square Foot Research, said: “In (the) first half, there were at least about 9,000 to 10,000 units launched. But for the second half, we are expecting about 8,000.

“Interestingly, there will be no ECs (executive condominium) in the second half of this year. There might be one along Upper Serangoon Road, which if they make it in the second half, but other than that, it will be a pure private residential and pure mixed project.”

Besides the plot of land at Alexandra Road, which was awarded in December last year, analysts forecast another mixed residential-commercial project at Bukit Panjang should excite home buyers in the second half of 2012.

Analysts believe demand will remain robust.

But any major financial crisis lasting more than two years could dampen sales, especially from a growing group of investors.

Nicholas Mak, research head, SLP International, said: “The government seems to be on the steady path of pushing out ample supply of development sites in the past few GLS programmes and likely will push out more in the next one year or so. However, the robust home buying demand is still likely able to absorb the oncoming supply.”

This year, analysts estimate new home sales to surpass last year’s record 17,750 private home units.

Source : CNA – 2012 Jul 5

Shoebox mania subsides, demand up for bigger units

With initial signs that the shoebox craze may be subsiding, demand for larger non-landed homes appears to be on the upswing with upgraders leading the way.

Data from property consultancy CBRE shows that the median size of all new non-landed homes sold in Q2 2012 rose to 79 sq m, up from 65 sq m in the previous quarter.

At the same time, the market share of shoebox units measuring 50 sq m or less fell to 23 percent from a high of 28 percent. However, this figure is still more than last year’s 20 percent.

Experts noted that cooling measures such as the seller’s stamp duty (SSD) and additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) could have contributed to the decline in investor demand for shoebox units. Such properties have been very popular due to their affordability, with most units priced below S$1 million.

Despite the renewed interest for bigger units at some executive condominiums (ECs) and private suburban projects, Joseph Tan, Executive Director (Residential) at CBRE, explained that “interest in small units will always be there, especially if the current trend of reducing average family size persists and homeowners continue to look for affordable smaller apartments”.

“It also depends on developers’ supply and pricing strategy; if prices are kept at an affordable quantum, investors will continue to view this as an attractive form of investment in view of the prevailing financial crisis,” he added.

Source : PropertyGuru – 2012 Jul 2