TDSR measures to spur feistier pricing competition among residential developers

Due to smaller pool of buyers.

"With many buyers constrained by the TDSR rules, projects will now have to compete more keenly to attract the shrunken pool of potential buyers," said Barclays Research, commenting on the state of Singapore real estate after the release of September developer sales.

The prediction came as several projects saw take-up rates below 50% in September, with a couple of exceptions performing better than the rest due to their relatively competitive pricing.

"Seven private residential projects (excluding executive condominiums) were launched for sale in September, (Alana, Belgravia Villas, ONZE @ Tanjong Pagar, Sky Vue, The Glades, The Skywoods and Thomson Three) achieving an average take-up of 54%. While Sky Vue and Thomson Three enjoyed strong take-up of above 80% and make up 56% of total Sep sales, the rest of the new projects only managed take-up rates of 9-45%," said Barclays Research.

"We believe the top two projects were competitive in pricing (S$1,362 -1,404psf) and hit the sweet spot of S$1-1.5mn in quantum on smaller formats, and near MRT or future MRT stations," it added.