Chart of the Day: A ghost town could be in the making as vacancy rate creeps to 6.6%

Buyers are scurrying away.

Property agents are likely to be having a difficult time wooing buyers to shell out cash and shop for new properties as vacancy rate edged up another 0.4 percentage points to 6.6% in 1Q14.

According to Savills, as of Q1/2014, there were 19,284 vacant units out of the current 293,283 available private homes across the island. In the reviewed quarter, the vacancy rate was 6.6%, representing an increase of 0.4 of a percentage point from the 6.2% in the previous quarter.

Here's more from Savills:

The increase was mainly due to the spike from 3.4% to 6.1% in the East region, whereas vacancy rates either remained flat or declined in the other regions.

Most of the major projects completed in the reviewed quarter are located in city fringe or suburban areas, such as Waterview
on Tampines Avenue 1 (696 units), Vacanza @ East on Lengkong Tujoh(473 units), The Shore Residences on Amber Road (408 units), Concourse Skyline on Beach Road (360 units) and Centro Residences on Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 (329 units).

Meanwhile, the latest high-end projects added to the market comprise Suites at Orchard on Handy Road (118 units) and Loft @ Nathan on Nathan Road (121 units).