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Latest Property Real Estate News - Published on 16/11/2009
URA’s latest release on private home prices revealed a 60% plunge in number of units launched, resulting in a less drastic drop of 29% in the number of units sold. “The market is most definitely cooling down as per our expectations,” says PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail. He refers to the third drop in units sold in as many months, as well as his earlier forecasts for an average of 1,000 units sold per month for the last four months of 2009, compared to the almost 8,000 total for the preceding four months. Mr Ismail explains that the drop can be partly explained by the fact that the pent-up demand which accumulated during the financial crisis has largely been spent. “Those who were waiting on the fence or who wanted to jump on the bandwagon have already made their purchases,” he says. He noted that 66% of the units sold were in the mid-range market, and went for between $1,000 and $1,999psf. “This phenomenon,” says Mr Ismail, highlighting that this was the highest percentage this year, “was due to developers selling smaller units to achieve a higher PSF price.” These units, he adds, were likely to be in the Rest of Central Region, and this was evident in the fact that most of the top-selling developments, like Cyan, Lincoln Suites and Trilight, are in that region. Looking at the next six months, Mr Ismail does not foresee any massive sell-out of launches as was seen earlier this year, in Optima for example. “Besides the fact that the end of the year is a traditionally slower period,” he explains, “the Government’s announcement to release 26 more land sites for development will help boost supply and temper the demand. As such, I do not expect to see more than 2,000 units sold in total for November and December 2009.”
