New home sales fall again

Cooling measures sideline buyers and sellers, further drop expected in Q4

05:55 AM Sep 24, 2010
Ryan Huang

SINGAPORE - The number of new private homes sold in the third quarter has continued to fall from the previous quarter, according to CB Richard Ellis, which estimates between 3,300 and 3,500 units being sold in the three months to September.

This would be significantly lower than the 4,033 and 4,380 units sold in the second and first quarters, respectively.

CBRE says residential market activity in the third quarter moved at a steady pace until September, after the government introduced its latest set of property cooling measures on Aug 30.

The real-estate consultancy believes market sentiment was dampened and sales activity slowed down as both sellers and buyers took time to digest the implications of the measures.

In the third quarter, projects in good locations and those with small-format units continued to be the star performers. Those fully sold included 368 Thomson (157 units), The Scala (468 units), Terrene (172 units) and small-format projects Haig 162 (99 units) and Dorsett Residences (68 units).

Meanwhile, suburban 99-year leasehold condominiums, The Greenwich at Seletar Road and NV Residences at Pasir Ris Grove, set new price benchmarks of $1,095 psf and $830 psf in their respective locations.

During the quarter, developers acquired more than 10 sites from the private sector.

The more prominent deals included the purchase of Goodrich Park for $86 million or $629 psf/plot ratio and Meng Gardens, a prime site in District 9 for $137 million or $1,380 psf/plot ratio.

A total of six residential sites and one mixed commercial-residential site were bought from the Government. This included the purchase by Far East Organization of a 444,136-sq ft site at Jalan Eunos for $257.8 million or $415 psf/plot ratio.

CBRE says developers will continue to look for development sites but will likely be less bullish in their bids.

It expects the residential market to mellow in the fourth quarter. The sales volume of new homes in the fourth quarter is expected to be lower, at around 2,000 units.

New projects primed for launch include Vacanza @ East and two executive condominiums - Esparina Residences and The Canopy.

by Ryan Huang

Source: http://www.todayonline.com