New private home sales surged 68% to 1,246 units

That's excluding executive condominiums.

According to PropNex, new private home sales rose in the month of September 2013 as developers sold 1,246 private homes, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), up 68% from the 742 units sold in August. Including ECs, which are a public-private housing hybrid, developers found buyers for 1,658 homes reflecting a rise of 13% from the August’s figure of 1,468 units. 

“The sustained buying activity shows that buying confidence in new private property segment generally remains healthy.

September saw a surge in the total of new private homes sold (compared Q-o-Q) mainly due to the attractiveness of these new projects, namely SkyVue and Thomson Tree that are sold in that month. Moreover, these are large projects which offer over 200 units for sale.

It was also noted that their strategic location, within walking distance to the MRT, right psf pricing with the right quantum as the main contributing factors for the overwhelming demand.”

We believe the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) – introduced on June 29 is the main reason for the tepid demand in both July and August. And home buyers and investors have turned more cautious and have been more selective due to the cumulative effect of all the property curbs over the past few years.

However, the upward trend for new private homes in September is mainly due to the reasonably attractive pricing in the project launches” explained Mr Mohd Ismail, CEO of PropNex Realty.