Chart of the Day: 2016 records the best private new home sales yet

Developers sold 12,408 new homes in the past year.

Last year emerged as a record year for developers as they sold 12,408 total number of new homes including ECs, a 21.6% increase from 2015's 10,199 houses sold.

According to PropNex, EC sale was the driving force, comprising a total of 32.6% of the total sales figure for 2016.

PropNex said a more in-depth analysis showed developers sold a total of 580 units (including ECs) in December - down from the 1,110 units sold in November 2016. The number of units launched was also lower at 183 - compared to 1,363 in the previous month (inclusive ECs) as no major launches was introduced in the market.

PropNex CEO Ismail Gafoor said the recorded sales in the past year have shown market confidence in new projects launched in 2016.

"In fact, the incremental growth in numbers in the Core Central Region this year indicate that today’s price points of 20 to 25% cheaper compared to the previous peaks for some development as developers had to clear their stocks by dangling incentives to avoid the extension fee. This contributed to around 67.2% spike in the number of units transacted in the Core Central Region,” he said.