Private residential units sold by developers in March 2018

​SINGAPORE, 16 April 2018 – Developers sold 716 private residential units in March, an increase of 86.5 per cent compared to February 2018, but 60 per cent lower y-o-y from the 1,780 private homes sold in March 2017. The estimated number of private homes sold in 1Q18 is 1,627 units, a 12.7 per cent decline from 4Q17 and a 45.1 per cent drop y-o-y.

614 private residential units were launched during the month, more than triple that in February but still much lower than the 1,527 units launched in March 2017. First quarter launches totaled an estimated 1,068 units, a 21.8 per cent improvement from the 877 units launched in 4Q17, but still 45.2 per cent lower than the 1,949 units placed on the market in the first quarter of last year.

Two new private residential projects were launched in March – 8 Hullet, in the prime district 9 and The Tapestry, a suburban development in Tampines. Of the 44 units in 8 Hullet, 15 were sold at a median price of $3,490 psf. The Tapestry which has 861 units, launched 450 of them and sold 329 at a median price of $1,408 psf.

The top selling private residential projects in March were The Tapestry (329 units at median price of $1,408 psf, Grandeur Park Residences (40 units at median price of $1,532 psf), Kingsford Waterbay (32 units at median price of $1,377 psf), Parc Botannia (30 units at median price of $1,310 psf) and Gem Residences (23 units at median price of $1,513 psf).

72 new Executive Condominium (EC) units were sold in March, 21.7 per cent less than February and a drop of 87.5 per cent y-o-y. EC projects with more significant sales were Signature at Yishun (39 units at median price of $789 psf) and Northwave (19 units at median price of $843 psf). A few other EC projects had sales of less than 10 units during the month. Most launched EC projects are substantially sold accounting for the low sales figures.

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

"The 716 new private homes sold in March seems like a slow pick-up but it is the month after Chinese New Year which was in mid-February. In 2017, Chinese New Year was in late January and we also saw a modest pick-up in the following month i.e. February when 979 units were sold. However, market activity resumed more robustly in March 2017, with 1,527 units launched and 1,780 units sold. 

A pick-up in launches and sales take up is expected in April with the market becoming more active. Several projects have already been launched including Harbour View Gardens, The Verandah Residences and Park Place Residences at PLQ (Phase 2), with others in the launch pipeline.

There is little left in the inventory of unsold ECs and most launched EC projects are at the tail-end of their marketing. The undersupply of ECs has contributed to a strong appreciation in new EC prices as seen in the reported average selling price of $965 psf at the recent launch of Rivercove Residences. This is nearly 15 per cent higher than the average selling price of $842 psf of Hundred Palms Residences when it was launched in July 2017."

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About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specialises in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2017, JLL had revenue of $7.9 billion; managed 4.6 billion square feet, or 423 million square meters; and completed investment sales, acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $170 billion. At the end of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of 82,000. As of December 31, 2017, LaSalle had $58.1 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com

JLL has over 50 years of experience in Asia Pacific, with over 37,000 employees operating in 96 offices in 16 countries across the region. The firm won 23 awards at the International Property Awards Asia Pacific in 2017 and was named number one real estate investment advisory firm in Asia Pacific for the seventh consecutive year by Real Capital Analytics. www.ap.jll.com