2Q13 home sales pegged to soar to 4,000-4,500 units

Seems like demand is still robust.

According to Knight Frank, developers sold a total of 2,793 units in March 2013, mainly from major launches in the Outside Central Region such as D’Nest, Urban Vista, Trilinq, Bartley Ridge and Hillion Residences. This brings total new sales volume in 1Q 2013 to about 5,533 units or about 27 per cent higher than 4Q 2012.

"We envisage that the buying sentiment in the private residential market would continue to remain stable, underpinned by continuing inflow of liquidity, low interest rates and the slew of upcoming project launches," Knight Frank said in a report.

Here's more from Knight Frank:

With a total of 17 newly launched projects available in March 2013, the buoyant demand could be seen as ‘supply-induced’ with a large supply of new launches in the market. While prospective homebuyers may be sensitive to price levels with the higher ABSD and cash downpayment, they are also enticed with the wider choice of residential projects from the new launches.

Upcoming projects with good location attributes and attractive price offers would be enticing draws for prospective buyers.

Singaporean first-time homebuyers and HDB upgraders are likely to enter the private residential market, as they continue to hunt for their first private home to take advantage of discounted prices offered by developers.

We expect sales volume in 2Q 2013 to hover around 4,000 to 4,500 units, with April 2013 sales likely to range between 1,500 and 2,000 units.

As the residential market absorbs the full effect of the cooling measures over the subsequent months, we foresee that the authorities would closely monitor price movements of private homes for a further one to two quarters, although no new policies are expected for now.

As for the leasing market, overall rent appreciation is anticipated to moderate towards end this year, as prospective tenants are presented with ample housing options, where upcoming supply of over 16,000 private residential units island-wide are planned for 2013.