Home sales dropped 10.6% to 21,657 units in 2018

Transactions in H2 fell 26.4% compared to H1 after the cooling measures were rolled out.

The cooling measures paired with economic uncertainties have clouded residential transactions in 2018 as home sales fell 10.6% YoY to 21,657 units, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Edmund Tie & Company (ETCo) showed.

The decrease in transactions was largely dragged by the 26.4% HoH fall in the sales volume in H2 2018 compared to H1 2018, the firm noted. New sales units crashed 15.6% YoY to 8,440 units whilst secondary sales dropped 7.1% YoY.

In prime districts, average resale prices for luxury condo and freehold properties rose 8.6% and 7.8%, respectively, ETCo said. On the other hand, prices of non-landed leasehold homes in suburban areas climbed 5.1% YoY in 2018.

Also read: Private condo rents could grow 2% in 2019

Meanwhile, average resale prices for non-landed leasehold properties in suburban areas rose 5.1% in 2018 after a 0.5% slip in 2017, which was again largely attributed to the strong increase of resale prices in H1 2018, the firm noted.

For landed homes, average resale prices in both prime and non-prime districts increased by around 5%.

“Prices of landed homes remained relatively flat in H2 2018 due to the lack of new supply for such properties,” ETCo explained.

Also read: Home price growth could ease to 2% in 2019

According to the research firm, the en bloc market will particularly be subdued in the residential arena as developers reassess their development pipeline and sell down their upcoming new developments.

“With this wait-and-see approach, developers have also indicated that they are in no hurry to reduce prices amid a resilient economy and steady employment market,” the research firm noted.

Also read: Developer sentiment remains pessimistic in 2019

For 2019, buyers can expect more than 55 to 60 launches which houses more than 21,000 new private units. ETCo noted that 5,500 of which will be in the Core Central Region (CCR), 10,000 units to be launched Outside the Central Region (OCR), and 6,000 units in the Rest of the Central Region (RCR).

According to PropertyInvestSG, amongst the largest launches in H1 2019 include Normanton Park with 1,882 units, Sengkang Central with 700 units, and Dairy Farm Road with 589 units.

“With such a large offering, some demand is expected to shift from the secondary market to new sales," ETCo explained.