New Showflat for The Skywoods

The Skywoods show flat has been relocated from its previous location next to Foresque to the corner of Dairy Farm Road and Dairy Farm Crescent. With the shift, the unit on display has been changed to a 1012 sq ft, 3-bedroom unit. 179 units out of 420 have been sold. Star units available for sale with a significant discount include 1+study, 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom types. Call us at 97323160 to make an appointment to view/buy.

Private Non-Landed Residential Property Prices in Singapore Fell 4% in 2014

Cutout View of the Upcoming Northpark Residences and Northpoint City in Yishun

On Friday, Jan 23, 2015, it was reported in the media that private residential property prices fell just 4% in 2014. The decline was 1.5% just in the last quarter of 2014 and 0.7% in the quarter before that. This makes a total of 5 quarters of straight declines. The continued decline, the number of units in the pipeline and talk in the media about increases in interest rates going forward must surely be on the minds of would be investors.

Since 2008 or over a 6 year period, this is the first year of decline in prices. 2013 saw a modest 1.4% increase in prices. Declines were across all districts. for non-landed private residential property the changes can be summarized as follows:

 For landed private residential properties, the numbers were also negative:

How about rentals? Well, rentals have also declined significantly from 2013.

With the decline in prices, the number of units sold declined especially when comparing the whole of 2014 with 2013. This can be interpreted as more people waiting at the sidelines for prices to drop further or that the cooling measures have deterred purchase of new properties.

The negativity is similar reinforced by the number of units launched in 2014 compared with the year before.

The big question in everyone's mind? Will 2015 see a turnaround?

Thanks for reading,

SGPropertySource Team

References:

Singapore private home prices fall 4 per cent in 2014 - AsiaOne Business

Sales of New Launch Private Homes Fell in June 2014

Sales of new launch private homes which almost doubled from April to May 2014 has decline 68% in June. Only 482 units were sold compared to the 1488 units in May 2014.  This partly due to the fewer units (418 units) launched compared to the previous month (1819 units).

* Year to date sales 4445 units, Jan to Jun 2014.

Interestingly, units at developments such as Thomson Three have been quietly moving.

Fall in Non-Landed Resale Property Transactions in January 2014

The resale market for non-landed resale property as dropped in Jan 2014 when compared to December 2013. 

To quote a report in the Today paper on Apr 12, 2014, "An estimated 310 non-landed private homes were resold in January, a 9.1 per cent drop from December’s 341 resale transactions, according to data from the Singapore Real Estate Exchange (SRX). On a year-on-year basis, sales fell 70.2 per cent." 

On a year to year basis this is a drastic drop and reflects the overall bearish market sentiment brought about by the TDSR cooling measure. On a more positive note (or negative depending on your intentions), the same article stated, "According to the SRX Property Resale Index, overall resale prices of non-landed private residential units gained 2.3 per cent in January, marking the second consecutive monthly rise in prices."

For more browse to: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/private-home-resale-market-sees-further-decline-transactions#inside

What's Going to Happen to Singapore Property Prices in 2014?

In recent weeks, there has been a constant stream of news about property prices and housing supply in 2014. By and large, most of it has been pessimistic for property prices. Propertyguru.com has come up with a 70 page ebook on its predictions for 2014 and is worth a read. It's free and downloadable from this link: http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/property-management-news/2014/1/37248/market-outlook-hdb-resales-what-goes-up-. You have to fill in a form so they really want your email in exchange but I think the report is worth looking at. Feel free to comment about the contents after you have read the report.

Big Drop in The Number of Private Properties Sold in December 2013 Vs November 2013

Figure 1: Guillemard Residences

The URA released figures today that showed a plunge in both the number of properties sold (-80%) and the number of units launched in December 2013 when compared to November 2013. The cooling measures, especially the TDSR, are taking a real toll on property sales as is evident from these figures and more visibly from the low traffic at showflats in recent times. The TDSR has sidelined buyers who do not meet the 60% debt ratio, reduced the funds of others and generally made buyers more cautious. Worries about interest rates and the reduction in quantitative easing in the US may have an impact on sentiment. Finally, the decline in HDB resale prices may dampen the flow of upgraders from HDB to private property. All these factors appear to support a slow down in sales and prices in the near future.

Table 1: Number of Units Sold Per Month 

Of the 333 units sold in December, 74 units were ECs of which 24 were from Forestville EC in Woodlands and another 18 from Skypark Residences EC in Sembawang. The median psf for these two ECs were 736 and 791 respectively. The best selling private developments were Guillemard Residences (26 out of 146 units, 1494psf), The Glades (1477psf) and La Fiesta (1197 psf). These are located in the Guillemard, Tanah Merah and Sengkang areas, all in OCR or RCR. 

*This author notes that the range of psf values above overlap some freehold psfs which means that even in this climate, decent freehold deals can be found if one knows where to look. 

Singapore Business Review (see http://sbr.com.sg/residential-property/news/private-home-prices-in-singapore-seen-slip-5) mentions estimates of a 5% drop in property prices in 2014 Vs. a small gain of 1.2% in 2013. The total number of units is also estimated to drop from 15015 in 2013 to 12500-14500 in 2014. The sizeable supply coming onstream as well as the general sentiment of the buyers of a price correction will also put more downward pressure on prices. It's becoming a buyers market but any property in a good location and priced attractively will still generate interest and sales.

Another article in SBR (http://sbr.com.sg/residential-property/news/chart-day-graph-proof-home-price-indices-are-starting-crack) mentioned more data that expects a 5% drop in 2014 and 5-15% drop in prices in 2015. The 4th quarter of 2013 saw the first drop in prices in 7 quarters and prices are not 61% above the last trough in 2Q09.

Table 2: Number of Units Launched Per Month

Interested in The Skywoods but holding out for a lower price? The developer of The Skywoods is offering an additional 3% discount for a total of 28% discount on 10 star buy units. The star-buy units range from $706k to $1.58 million after discount for 1-4 bedroom units. Contact Faith at 97323160 for additional details and to make arrangements to view the showflat.