Private residential units sold by developers in April 2019

SINGAPORE - In April 2019, developers launched 444 private residential units for sale, merely a quarter of the 1,812 units launched in the previous month and 33.1% lower y-o-y. It is also the lowest monthly launch figure so far this year, reflecting caution among developers following the huge launch in March, with many units left unsold. Only three new private residential projects were launched in April compared to 10 in the previous month. (See Table A). Wilshire Residences is located in prime district 10 and in the Core Central Region (CCR) while Coastline Residences and Mayfair Modern are situated in the Rest of Central Region (RCR).

Table A – New Project Launches

Source: URA

With subdued launches in April, the number of new private homes sold during the month dropped to 735 units, a 30.3% decline from the 1,054 units sold in March but quite similar to the 733 units sold in April 2018. The top selling private residential projects in April 2019 are listed in Table B below. These projects are relatively more affordable especially those located in Outside Central Region such as Parc Botannia, Treasure at Tampines and Riverfront Residences whose median prices hover around $1,300 psf, a comfortable entry level pricing for suburban condominiums.

Table B – Top Selling Projects

Source: URA

Mr Ong Teck Hui, Senior Director of Research & Consultancy at JLL commented:

“The mismatch between the 1,812 private homes launched and the 1,054 units sold in March sent a clear message that there is a lack of demand to absorb so much supply being placed on the market. Most of the projects launched in March suffered weak take-up rates. Taking the cue from this, developers turned cautious and scaled back their launches in April to avoid poor sales progress in their projects. The subdued launch of only 444 units in April will also mitigate the accumulation of unsold units in launched projects.

After two quarters of decline in the URA private residential property price index (0.1% in 4Q18 and 0.7% in 1Q19), buyers would interpret prices to be on a downward trend and be in less of a hurry to purchase. Given the substantial launch pipeline, many buyers could also be awaiting the launch of more new projects to widen their purchase options. A wait-and-see attitude among buyers would slow demand response to new launches. However, projects that are attractively priced with good locational attributes will continue to outperform the competition.

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