Chart of the Day: Developers' monthly sales just let everyone down

Sold units plummeted almost 50%.

According to Barclays, while monthly private home sales by developers improved 28% m/m to 724 units in February 2014, this run-rate implies sales of just 8,000 units for the full year, almost half of the 15,000 in 2013. 

Here's more from Barclays:

We note that: 1) the combined take-up rate at 41% for the two new launches in February, Rivertrees and Riverbank, has been weak despite the attractive pricing due to competition and abundant supply in the area; 2) five units were returned at The Panorama (only 8% sold to date) and Wheelock Properties has taken a writedown of S$110mn on this project, which may indicate a reduction in selling prices going forward; and 3) sales of luxury projects remain weak.

According to the Housing Development Board (HDB), public housing prices posted their third consecutive quarterly drop – the HDB resale price index fell 1.5% q/q and -3.4% y/y, after its 1.5% decline in 4Q13 and -0.9% in 3Q13, bringing the cumulative decline to 3.9% from the peak.

We believe the HDB price decline has significant implications for the private home sector as the ability of potential HDB upgraders to buy private homes will likely be curtailed as the public housing market slows down.