New private home sales in November at 5-month high

CanningHill Piers sold 576 units at a median price of $2,887 per sq ft.PHOTO: CITY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

SINGAPORE – New private home sales climbed to a five-month high in November on the back of the successful launches of CanningHill Piers and The Commodore despite show gallery restrictions.

Buyers snapped up 1,547 units last month – the highest November sales in 10 years and up nearly 70 per cent from 911 in October.

Sales are up nearly 100 per cent from 774 units sold in November a year ago, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data on Wednesday (Dec 15).

Mr Ismail Gafoor, chief executive of PropNex Realty, said: “The healthy demand for new homes and declining supply of unsold inventory should continue to support developers’ confidence in upcoming project launches and when they assess land sites for acquisition.”

Developers rolled out 1,283 new homes last month, up 94 per cent from just 661 in October, but down 6.7 per cent from 1,375 a year earlier.

There were four new launches in November, with the 696-unit CanningHill Piers by the Singapore River and 219-unit The Commodore in the Sembawang-Canberra area accounting for 47.8 per cent of total sales.

Nearly 59 per cent of total sales came from the city fringe area, driven by CanningHill Piers which sold 576 units at a median price of $2,887 per sq ft (psf).

Buyers were drawn to its prime location between the Central Business District and prime District 9, panoramic views and renewed interest for integrated developments, CBRE’s head of research for South-east Asia Tricia Song said.

The sole penthouse on the 48th floor was sold for $48 million or $5,360 psf, and the buyer is believed to be a Singaporean businessman, according to CBRE.

The suburbs accounted for 29.7 per cent of total sales, or 459 units. Of this, 164 units came from The Commodore, which sold at a median price of $1,513 psf.

“CanningHill Piers attracts investors, owner-occupiers and foreigners, while The Commodore – which is near Canberra MRT station – tends to woo more mass market home buyers and HDB upgraders,” said Mr Gafoor.

Meanwhile, a total of 178 new units were transacted in the prime area at existing projects such as The Avenir and Leedon Green.

According to Huttons, 34.4 per cent of transactions in November were priced below $1.5 million, 26.5 per cent were between $1.5 million and $2 million, and 39 per cent above $2 million. Four of the top 10 best-selling projects are in the suburbs.

Including executive condominiums (ECs), new private home sales jumped about 54 per cent to 1,610 units last month from 1,047 in October, and climbed about 96 per cent from 822 in November last year.

There were no new ECs launched last month.

Developers sold 63 EC units in November, with the number of unsold units now at 178, according to Huttons. The next EC launch, North Gaia in Yishun, is likely to be in March next year.

So far this year, 12,467 new private homes have been sold, surpassing the 9,982 for the whole of 2020.

Upcoming new launches, including that of the 230-unit Perfect Ten in Bukit Timah Road on Dec 19, could keep sales buoyant in December, Ms Song said.

The freehold luxury project, which is close to popular schools and offers views of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, could set a record price for the Bukit Timah area, given limited new stock of such properties, she added.

The deferment of vaccinated travel lanes to select countries to manage the risk of transmission of the Omicron variant from travellers could delay the return of foreign buyers. But viewing gallery restrictions are not expected to be further tightened as Singapore transitions to an endemic stage of living with Covid-19, Ms Song said.

Ms Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, anticipates that prices will continue to be propped up by limited supply and robust demand.

“Around 9,000 units or less (including EC units) may be released into the market next year, and this is approximately 17 per cent to 20 per cent lower than the number of private homes launched annually in 2019 and 2020.

“Up to 30 projects could be launched for sale next year, compared with more than 50 launched in 2019,” she said.

New launches such as Perfect Ten and Mori in Guillemard Road/Jalan Molek are expected to boost sales in December.

“These two projects will present further options alongside existing launches in the central region for investors,” said Mr Gafoor.

Ms Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex Realty, said: “With inflation likely to tick up in 2022, we could see some buyers turning to residential properties as an inflation hedge. However, should inflation lead to sharp interest rate hikes, this may deter some home buyers as borrowing cost rises.”

“Source: [New private home sales in November at 5-month high] © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction”

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