Buyers steer clear of ECs on back of elevated prices

Recent launches haven't sold well.

High prices and a supply glut are keeping buyers away from recent EC launches, a report by DBS revealed.

According to DBS, four out of five EC projects launched from December to January have only managed a sell-through rate of 26% as of April 2015.

"We believe that apart from competition, given the close proximity for some of these projects, a key issue is price. Prices for ECs have been nipping at the heels of private condominiums in the Outside Central Region (OCR)," said the report.

DBS analysts noted that ECs were typically priced at a discount of around 22% to private condominiums in the OCR in 2011, but the price differential closed to just 11% in 2014,.

"We believe that apart from competition, given the close proximity for some of these projects, a key issue is price. Prices for ECs have been nipping at the heels of private condominiums in the Outside Central Region (OCR)," DBS noted.