Sale of new homes increased to 2,329

Total transaction volume for the homes sold up to November 2010 was $16.98 billion.

Li Hiaw Ho, Executive Director of CBRE Research said that developers put in a strong supply of 2,329 new homes for sale in November compared to only 1,070 units in October. Sale of new homes was brisk because of the high liquidity in the market as well as the strong location and product attributes of the new launches. Homebuyers picked up 1,909 new private homes and another 175 executive condominiums. Including the 1,065 new homes sold in October and the 12,051 units sold in the first three quarters of the year, a total of 15,025 new homes have been sold in the 11 months of 2010. This number already trumped the previous record of 14,811 new homes sold during the market peak in 2007. In terms of supply, units from new launches up to November 2010 stood at 15,266 units while only 14,149 new homes were launched for sale in 2007. Several of the new launches comprised a large proportion of small format units.

The best performer in November was The Lakefront Residences, with 437 units sold at the median price of $1,075 psf. Its popularity could be attributed to its being located within a stone’s throw from the Lakeside MRT station and the government’s plans to develop the Jurong East and Jurong Lake areas into a major regional centre and leisure destination. The next in line was Waterview at Tampines Avenue 1 which sold 376 units at the median price of $903 psf. The accessibility of this location will be further improved in a few years’ time when one of the stations in the proposed Downtown Line 3 is completed. Spottiswoode Residences also done well with 258 units sold at the median price of $1,853 psf. Its main selling points are its freehold tenure and the future plans to rejuvenate the entire Tanjong Pagar area including the existing railway station.

Interest in luxury market remains as evidenced by the sale of 41 units of Paterson Suites at the median price of $2,661 psf, a unit in Nassim Park Residences at $3,992 psf and three units of 8 Napier at $3,348 psf.

Based on URA’s statistics, the total transaction volume for the homes sold up to November 2010 was $16.98 billion, 29.6 per cent lower than the $24.11 billion in 2007. It is unlikely that the total transaction value of 2010 will be able to exceed the 2007 value even if the volume reaches 15,500-16,000 units for the whole year.