2 biggest factors that boosted Singapore's Q3 home sales

But results were still weak.

According to the recently released Singapore Residential Sales Briefing by Savills Research, affordability and location were the only two factors which significantly helped move residential sales in Q3.

Here's more from Savills:

The report noted that in July, new private home sales dropped to 482 as developers withheld new housing stock and buyers digested the new total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) framework.

Despite a rebound in August and September, sales volumes in the third quarter declined by 46.5% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 58.9% year-on-year (YoY).

The secondary market also showed no improvement, with sales volumes falling 36.8% QoQ (65.1% YoY) to 1,521 units, compared with 2,407 units in the previous quarter.

In Q3/2013, the private residential property price index showed a modest 0.4% increase QoQ, while the average high-end non-landed home price tracked by Savills slipped by 0.3% QoQ, the second consecutive quarterly decline.

The analysis mentioned that projects that are perceived to be reasonably priced and located in easily accessible areas that had not seen many launches in the past are likely to enjoy better take-up.

In addition, the analysis of the caveats lodged from Q1/2012 to Q3/2013 shows that in the new sale segment, home buyers are now favouring smaller private non-landed homes islandwide, with sizes from >60 sq m to 80sqm.