Private condo sales plunged by almost 40% in Q3

Only around 1500 new homes were sold.

Fewer private condominiums were sold in the third quarter. According to CBRE, developers launched fewer but well-located projects to gauge homebuyers’ response in the quarter, with only around 1,000 units from six new projects released for sale.

Including units from ongoing projects, home-buyers bought 1,500-1,600 new homes. In comparison, 2,843 new homes were launched and 2,665 new homes were sold in Q2 2014.

For the nine months in 2014, new home sales stood at around 6,000 units, which is less than half of the 12,380 new homes sold over the same period a year ago.

“This slowdown in the residential market shows that the effect of the TDSR framework is growing more apparent. Potential homebuyers are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain financing to purchase residential properties. In addition, those who are buying their second or subsequent properties need more cash to overcome the next hurdle of ABSD,” noted CBRE.