Chart of the day: Are new launches in the residential market losing their thunder?

About 70% of Q2 sales were from previous launches.

Singapore's residential market may well be on its way to stabilisation, as Q2 saw a pick-up in buying activity in tandem with new project launches.

According to a report by CBRE Research, around 2,100 new homes were sold, which is 1.5 times of 1Q16's volume. Overall, 1H16 saw 3,500-3,600 units new homes sold.

The report notes that around 70% of the new homes sold in H1 came from previously launched projects.

"This could be attributed to buyers waiting on the sidelines being swayed by projects nearing completion as well as increased incentives offered by developers to both buyers and marketing staff," CBRE Research asserts.

The average size of homes sold in H1 was 743 sqft, slightly smaller than the 764 sqft for homes sold in 2015. Meanwhile, the median price per unit climbed 7.8% to $1.07m.

In the executive condominium (EC) market, Q2's new launches—Parc Life and The visionaire—moved more than 270 units. Combined with condos sold from ongoing projects, some 1,000 new ECs were sold. This reflects a 31.2% spike compared to 1Q EC sales.

Looking forward, CBRE Research posits that the market could take a wait-and-see stance to gauge the impact of recent events in the global political and economic front.This could result to a drop in Q3 sales volume.