Analysts raise the alarm over “worrying” EC sales dearth

Only 65 ECs were sold in February.

An increasingly worrying trend is emerging in the residential property market. Buyers are steadily shying away from once-popular executive condominiums (ECs), with ECs launched from November 2014 onwards suffering from extremely lacklustre sales.

Data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and DBS show that only 65 ECs were sold in February, compared to the 184 ECs sold in January.

Of the five EC projects launched since November 2014, DBS noted that only Lake Life EC managed to book substantial sales, with the project 98% sold to date.

The other four didn’t fare so well. Two projects by Qingjian Realty, namely Bellewaters and Bellewoods, have only sold 10 and 13 units respectively.

Meanwhile, The Terrace, which was launched in December, has sold 8 units and remains 79% unsold. The Amore, launched in January 2015, has only sold 8 units and remains 75% unsold.

“The oversupply of ECs in the market is a worrying trend, particularly in newer or growing estates such as Sengkang, Punggol and Woodlands, where only 558 of 2,337 available units have been sold. While developers have yet to drop their asking prices significantly, we reckon that given the large volume of units available for sale or in the pipeline (1.7k for sale, 3.3k yet to be launched), there might be further weakness in prices as the year proceeds,” DBS stated.