Ghost month: New private home sales plunge 42.9% year-on-year in August

Number of new launches also dropped by 64.1%.

The Hungry Ghost did not bring good tidings to the country’s residential property developers. Data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority revealed that new sales volume plunged 64.1% year-on-year to 432 units, from 756 units sold in the same month last year.

On a month-on-month basis, new sales volume fell by 15.1%, from 509 units in July 2014. There were a total of 351 new private landed and non-landed units launched last month, representing a 64.1% plunge compared to August 2013 where 979 new units were launched.

According to Knight Frank, the lacklustre sales performance was due to the lack of new project launches in August which is traditionally a quiet period as developers seek to avoid the Hungry Ghost Month Festival, often perceived as an inauspicious period to buy a home.

“Going forward, new sales volume in September is expected to improve from the first two months of the third quarter, on the back of some highly-anticipated mid- to large-scale upcoming launches. These include Highline Residences, Marina One and 70 St Patrick’s. Developers are also likely to intensify efforts to launch projects with attractive offers to boost sales performance in view of a traditionally quiet year-end period ahead,” noted the report.

Here’s more from Knight Frank:

In light of the existing Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) ruling and property cooling measures, prospective buyers are maintaining a wait-and-see approach in anticipation of further price changes. Buying sentiment for new launches is likely to remain fairly muted in light of the current cooling measures.

It is anticipated that total developers’ sales for the whole of 2014 could range between 8,000 to 9,000 units, falling just short of the 10,000-unit mark.