New home sales tally seen to plunge 30% to 15,000-16,000 units

Buyers' fatigue has set in.

According to Colliers, given that developers have sold 12,327 new homes thus far in the first nine months of the year, the total new sales tally for 2013 is likely to reach between 15,000 and 16,000 units, down some 30% from 2012’s record high of 22,197 units.

Here's more from Colliers International:

On the supply front, the plethora of choices available - from the record launch of new homes in the past two years to the sizeable residential supply that is expected to materialise in the next few years up to 2016 – will see homebuyers adopting a deliberate and selective approach towards home buying.

Taking the above into consideration and factoring in the traditional year-end lull in market activities, demand for new homes in 4Q 2013 is unlikely to return to the levels seen in the first two quarters of the year though it may come in higher than that seen for the June to September quarter, which suffered a knee-jerk reaction from the implementation of the TDSR framework

Buyers’ fatigue to escalating prices has also set in and some developers may adopt a softer stance when pricing to entice homebuyers to commit in light of the mounting downside risks.

Put together, barring any unforeseen shocks, overall private residential home prices that are now at a record high after increasing some 2.0% for the first nine months of the year are expected to flat-line in 4Q 2013 and register a mild increase capped at 3% for the whole of 2013.