Chart of the Day: New home sales up to 6,682 units in Q1

The new high surpassed even the full-year sales of 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2008.

Savills Research said:

Buying interest gathered pace in January this year with 2,077 new units transacted, three times the 670 units sold in December 2011 after the release of cooling measures earlier that month.

New homes sales subsequently sky-rocketed to 3,142 units in February and 3,032 units in March, with the former being a monthly record high. This surge was driven largely by the mass-market segment, which accounted for about 85% of the total primary sales in Q1 this year.

The robust home sales bore testimony to the strength of underlying demand from first timers and HDB upgraders.

The strong sales have also been fuelled by various forms of sweeteners which developers have dished out to entice buyers and counter the effects of the ABSD.

Most recent project launches have offered buyers discounts of up to 20% from the listed price. These discounts come in various forms, ranging from stamp duty reimbursements, shopping vouchers and furnishing packages to early bird and vicinity discounts.

Many innovative promotional packages were also offered such as free hotel stays, instant lucky dips, move-in party packages and loyalty discounts. Most of the discounts fully or partially offset the ABSD imposed on permanent residents and third-time home purchasers.